Lock Me In Your Heart
by Myari
Summary: (Third Book) Haiden's second year did not end the way he wanted, not even close. The only good thing that he could say happened: he wasn't sent back to the Dursleys. After a trip with the Weasley Family who took him in for the summer, Haiden comes back to find an escaped Azkaban prisoner is after him for some unknown reason. What's a 13 year old, slightly traumatised, boy to do?
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary-**

Haiden's second year did not end the way he wanted, not even close. He had been kept away from his brother after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets, and then summer started taking him away from his brother. The only good thing that he could say happened: he wasn't sent back to the Dursleys. And he was glad. Haiden didn't know what he would have done had he sent back there alone. After a trip with the Weasley Family who took him in for the summer, Haiden comes back to find an escaped Azkaban prisoner is after him for some unknown reason. What's a 13 year old, slightly traumatised, boy to do?

* * *

 **Chapter One- Beware the Dog**

Haiden panted as he ran as fast as he could down the corridor, Hermione and the Weasley twins right behind him. In front of him was Professor Snape and a man he had only met once before, Remus Lupin. The group of them slid around a corner, nearly running into another group of people walking down the corridor. "Sorry, excuse us!" Hermione called back to them, never once pausing in her stride. Their group turned down some more corners, almost bowling over a young woman who yelled at them to slow down, before they made it to another group. This one made up of four light haired people and two dark haired people. Their group came sliding to a stop, everyone of them panting.

"We got your message. We got here as quick as we could." Remus panted out. Haiden, Hermione, and the Weasley twins hadn't shown up there with Snape and Remus, they all just happened to get the same message and flooed there at the very same time. They hadn't even exchanged hello's. Haiden didn't know about Snape and Remus, but he had ran out of the floo and hadn't stopped once until now.

"Is it true?" Snape asked. "Is my son really awake? This isn't another false alarm is it?"

"Take a look for yourself." Lucius Malfoy said motioning with his cane to the widow. Haiden, and the rest of his group, snapped their neck over towards the window where they saw Harry sitting up in his hospital bed actively talking with two Healers. Haiden began to cry.

Ever since Fawkes carried him, Ginny, Ron, a dazed Lockhart, and the comatosed Harry to the Hospital Wing, he had been kept away from his brother. The last he saw of Harry was a group of St. Mungo's Healers rushing him to St. Mungo's. That had been right after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets, and now summer was coming to a close with his third year at Hogwarts just a few short weeks away.

The only news anyone had on Harry, until today, was that he had fallen into a coma and was just lucky to be alive. No one knew what stopped the Basilisk poison from killing Harry, the Healers were stumped. They say that the Phoenix tears from Fawkes only healed the wound, not the poison for some strange reason. But Haiden didn't care, his brother had been alive, true he had fallen into a coma, but he wasn't dead.

Haiden felt Hermione wrap her arms around him and turned so that he could rest his face in the crook of her neck. "He's finally awake." Haiden breathed out as he let his tears continue to fall. "My brother came back to me." Hermione ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm never going to let him go again."

"Are you his family?" One of the Healers asked as he exited Harry's hospital room. Haiden pulled away from Hermione and was about to answer when Snape beat him to it.

"I'm his adopted father, this is my life mate, Remus, and he is his other adopted father." Snape informed them. Just last week, Snape took Dumbledore to court and somehow won custody of Harry. It worried Haiden, but Harry trusted Snape, and Haiden was willing to trust Harry's judgement.

"If you will please follow me." The Healer said and started to walk off with Snape and Remus before Haiden was finally able to put his two cents in.

"I'm his twin brother!" Haiden cried, if this Healer was going to tell them about Harry, he want to know too.

"You may join us as well." The Healer said with a kind smile. The three of them followed the Healer into small room just off the hallway. The Healer sat down before motioning to the chairs in front of him after conjuring up another one for Haiden. "Please, take a seat." Haiden had a bad feeling about whatever the Healer was going to tell them.

"Is there something wrong with my brother?" Haiden asked as he sat down.

"I am Healer Kristoffer Sven, I am the Head Healer here at St. Mungo's, and I am in charge of Harry until I feel he is fit to leave. And as you know, for the past few months Harry has been in a coma." The Healer started. "What you do not know, is that the reason we did not know why he fell into a coma and what stopped the Basilisk poison from killing him is because every time we tried to examine him, be it with magical means or Muggle, his magic would lash out at us. He has already injured quite a few of my Healers and nearly killed three, and just with his magic. That was the reason we deny him any visitors.

"Now that he is awake, we were able to examine him. And we found out that his magic saved him. His magic attacked and dissolved the Basilisk poison killing him. That was why he fell into a coma, his body was focusing all of his magic and energy into dissolving the poison." Healer Sven informed them.

"But that's not possible." Snape said. "That's… no… I've never heard of magic being able to dissolve poison."

"Neither have I. But I have checked him and the results multiple times, and each and every time it comes out that his magic somehow dissolved the poison." Healer Sven said and Snape slumped in his seat in shock. "Your son, and please do not take this in the wrong way, your son should not be alive." Haiden looked at Healer Sven in complete shock. "It is honestly a miracle that should not be humanly possible that he is even still with us. If I had not double and triple checked that Harry was indeed human, I would say he was inhuman. That there was no possible way he could even exist. Because not only did his magic dissolved the poison, but he is completely cured. There is no lingering damage to his mind or body, it's as if the poison had never been in him. And had I not seen your memory of that night, Haiden, I would never have believed he ever got poisoned by a Basilisk."

"So, you're saying Harry is in full health?" Haiden asked slowly as he tried to wrap his mind around what he had just been told.

"Yes, that is what I am saying." Healer Sven confirmed.

"So, does that mean he's free to leave the hospital?" Haiden asked.

"Well, I wish to keep him for two more nights, just to monitor him." Healer Sven said.

"It better just be for monitoring, my pup is not a test subject." Remus growled out, his brown eyes flashing an almost golden color. Snape quickly grabbed his hand and whispered something in his ear. "Yes, I took it." Remus answered and Snape seemed to let out a breath of relief. Healer Sven looked confused for a second before a flash of recognition swept across his face. He smiled kindly at Remus.

"You have my word as a Healer that I will not let your pup become a test subject. This will only be for monitoring. I want to be sure that there is no lingering effects, and after the next two days, you will be able to take your pup home and care for him yourself. I swear." Healer Sven vowed. Remus stared the Healer down for a full minute before seeming satisfied and nodding. "Now, I'm sure I've kept you from Harry more than long enough, go visit him." The second those words left Healer Sven's lips, Haiden was out of his chair and running to his brother.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Haiden sighed and leaned against Hermione as they sat silently in Harry's hospital room wait for him to wake up from his nap. Most of the people visiting Harry left when he fell asleep, the only ones who stayed were him, Hermione, and Harry's new parents. But right now, the only ones in the room with Harry were him and Hermione, Professor Snape and Remus were talking with Healer Sven.

Haiden glanced at Hermione when she sighed and shifted in her chair, a large book in her hands. She glanced up from her book and smiled at him when she saw him looking at her. "You don't have to stay with me. You can leave." Haiden told her.

"I know." Hermione said before looking back at her book with a soft smile on her face. It took a couple of minutes for Haiden to realise she was here to support him, Hermione had deduced that being here while Harry was asleep was hard on Haiden, and trying to support him anyway she could. Haiden pecked Hermione on the cheek before turning to watch his brother, he wanted to know when his brother woke from his nap, for his own piece of mind.

"Thank you." Haiden said to Hermione who gently bumped his shoulder with hers.

"Anytime." Hermione said and the two fell into a comfortable silence that was broken by a painful whimper from Harry. Haiden stood up to check on Harry, but the second he did him and Hermione were hit by a shockwave of power that threw them against the wall, knocking the air from their lungs, before they slid to the floor. And Haiden wasn't sure if the ringing in his ears was an alarm or his eardrums, but he did know that the screaming he heard was not just from Harry, but also Hermione.

Haiden looked over at Hermione from his spot on the floor and saw her trying to get away from the waves of black miasma like magic, but the magic was everywhere. It was only then that he realised the black magic wasn't hurting him, he glanced at his hands and saw what looked to be a shield of white magic protecting him. Haiden tried to stand up to make his way over to Hermione because if the white magic was protecting him, maybe if he wrapped himself around Hermione it would also protect her, but the black magic was pressing down on him making it impossible for him to stand. So he crawled over to Hermione and wrapped around her, and nearly cried in joy when he watched the white magic wrap around her as well.

Haiden looked over his shoulder to look at Harry when he stopped screaming the same time Hermione did only to start chanting something in strange language that Haiden was pretty sure was not Parselmouth. After a few minutes of chanting, Harry stopped and then the black magic slowly began to fade away. When the magic disappeared completely Haiden and Hermione sat up and looked around in shock. Because etched onto every surface was the phrase 'Beware the Dog.' It was even on Hermione's arm.

The door to the hospital room flew open and three healers and Healer Sven ran in, none of them seemed shocked at the etching. The healers checked on Harry, who was back to sleeping peacefully, before checking on him and Hermione. They healed the words etched into Hermione's arm, before repairing the room.

"What just happened?" Haiden asked as he wrapped himself around Hermione once again.

"Harry's magic felt threatened by something and lashed out. Harry was most likely reliving that night in the Chamber again. What I'm most curious to know is why didn't the magic attack you? Why were you protected?" Healer Sven asked after the other three healers left.

"Harry's magic most likely registered Haiden as his brother and not a threat." Hermione explained before turning to look at Haiden. "I think it's time I took my leave, my parents are probably worried about me."

"I'll escort you home." Haiden said before walking Hermione out of the room with one last look at Harry who was watching him with sleep filled eyes.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Haiden was leaning against the counter of Flourish and Blotts with Ron watching as Hermione payed for all of her books, glancing at the arm that had been hurt the other day happy to see nothing there, not even a scar. "Why did you get so many books? Are all of them for light reading?" Haiden asked trying to distract himself from the memory of her bloody arm while watching as the poor assistant packed them all.

"No, Haiden, I told you I was taking more new subjects than you." Hermione said taking the bag from the assistant. "These are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies-"

"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" Ron asked rolling his eyes at Haiden. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"

"Yes, but it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point view." Hermione said earnestly and Haiden nodded taking the bag from her to hold as they left the building. "You know I can hold my own bag."

"I know, but can't I be a good boyfriend and hold my girlfriend's heavy bag for her?" Haiden asked causing Hermione to blush and Ron to roll his eyes and gag.

"Ugh, come on man, even I'm embarrassed for you from just hearing those stupid words, how can you stand to say them?" Ron asked and Haiden looked down awkwardly as Hermione glared at Ron.

"Why are you being such a dick Ron? I thought you were Haiden's friend, you should be happy that your friend has a girlfriend and is happy!" Hermione said.

"Happy? How can anyone be happy with you as their girlfriend?" Ron asked causing Hermione to gasp and tear up.

"Ron, stop. Just because you're jealous of me having a girlfriend and you don't doesn't mean you can take your jealousy out on Hermione, my girlfriend!" Haiden said stepping in between Hermione and Ron, glaring at Ron. "And while we're at it, lay off my brother. I know you don't like him, I don't get why but I'm not asking you to like him, I'm just asking that you stop blaming him for everything, please. He's been through a lot."

"Okay, fine, whatever." Ron said and a pregnant pause fell between the three of them as they awkwardly continued to walk down Diagon Alley. Haiden glanced into Hermione's book bag and took notice of all the school books in the bag.

"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" Haiden asked with a laugh trying to get the pregnant silence to leave them.

"Don't worry, Haiden, me and Professor McGonagall have worked everything out." Hermione said smiling. "Now I've still got ten Galleons." She said checking her purse. "Mum and Dad gave me some money for my birthday to get myself a birthday present."

"How about a nice _book_?" Ron said rudely and Hermione glared at him.

"No, I don't think so." Hermione said in a guarded tone, before turning her attention to Haiden. "I really want an owl. I mean, you've got Hedwig, Harry's got Heimdallur, and Ron had Errol-"

"I haven't." Ron said. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him cheeked over," He added, placing Scabbers on his shoulder. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him. Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.

"I think there's a magical creature shop just over there." Haiden said pulling up the image of Diagon Alley from his trips to it. Haiden might not be able to remember where every book in a library was, but he could remember where a building was. "You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers and Hermione can get her owl." As they walked towards the Magical Menagerie and Haiden froze mid step when he swore he saw a large black dog standing in the alley right next to the shop. The dog's lips were pulled back and his sharp teeth were showing. The words that had been etched in not only Hermione's arm but every surface of Harry's Hospital room flashed through his mind. Haiden gripped Hermione's hand, stopping her from walking any closer to the shop.

"Haiden?" Hermione asked looking at him, Ron didn't notice they had stopped and entered the shop. A group of witches and wizards walked in between Haiden and the alley and when they passed, the dog was gone. "Haiden, are you okay? What's wrong?" Haiden looked at Hermione with wide fearful eyes.

"Beware the Dog."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two- The Dementor**

Harry sat on his hospital bed with his knees pulled to his chest as he read the Daily Prophet that was laying in front of him on the bed while keeping one ear on the conversation happening around him. Tonight was supposedly his last night, he had been here for a week only because each time his 'last night' kept coming around something would happen that kept him there longer to the growing annoyance of everyone. Harry was praying that nothing kept him from leaving tomorrow, because tomorrow was the day they were to return to Hogwarts. Harry wanted to join everyone on the train and start school on the first day like everyone else instead of coming in late and causing even more rumors about him. Harry had already ordered all of his new books, school supplies and new robe and they had arrived a few days ago.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" Fred asked as Crookshanks, Hermione's new cat, chased after a terrified Scabbers, Harry didn't even blink when a rat and cat ran over his newspaper, he just fixed it once they were gone. Ron started yelling at Hermione to catch her cat as Hermione began trying to catch Crookshanks while ordering Ron to get Scabbers.

"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars." Arthur Weasely said as he began to try and help Hermione and his wife catch the animals with no luck.

"Why?" Percy asked curiously as he stood in a corner as if trying to distance himself from the ruckus that was happening in the room.

"It's because of you, Perce," George said seriously, "and there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them-"

"-for Humongous Bighead." Fred finished, everyone except for Percy and Molly snorted as Harry caught both Scabbers and Crookshanks without ever looking up from the newspaper. He threw Scabbers at Ron and handed Crookshanks to Hermione.

"Thank you Harry!" Hermione said petting the cat to calm him.

"Oh dear, you didn't have to trouble yourself catching them, we could have caught them. You should just focus on getting better." Molly said mothering him. Harry had to bite the urge to roll his eyes and tell her that he was better, but the look Severus flashed him told him to suck it up because nothing his says would stop her from mothering him.

"Molly," Remus started moving over from standing beside Remus to sitting next to Harry, "from what the healers are saying, Harry's body is perfectly healthy so catching an animal or two will not hurt him." He told her kindly, but the undertone clearly screamed 'Stop mothering my son, he's mine not yours!' Molly seemed to get the silent hint and took a few steps away from Harry with a wiry look in her eyes.

"It takes a village, Remus." Severus said causing Remus and all the people not raised by muggles to look confused.

"Village?" Arthur asked? "Why are you taking Harry to a village?" Severus looked away slightly embarrassed.

"It's a muggle saying." Harry jumped in. "The full saying is 'It takes a village to raise a child' meaning a child has the best ability to become a healthy adult if the entire community takes an active role in contributing to the rearing of the child." Harry recited from his memory.

"Interesting. Tell me more." Arthur said his eyes shining and Harry caught the curiously look Hermione tossed to Severus who pretended not to see it. Harry hummed while turning the page and felt Remus tense up, Harry glanced at him and saw Remus staring at a picture in the newspaper. The picture was of the recently escaped Azkaban prisoner: Sirius Black.

"It's because of Sirius, isn't it." Harry said suddenly cutting into the resumed conversation of the Ministry borrowed cars.

"W-what?" Arthur asked stuttering a little in shock.

"The reason the Ministry is letting us borrow some cars, it's because of the escaped Azkaban Prisoner. Why?" Harry asked.

"W-why what?" Arthur asked.

"Why would they let us use some cars? What connection does Sirius have to me and Haiden?" Harry asked closing the newspaper and giving Arthur his full attention causing everyone else to give him their full attention as well.

"I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Arthur stuttered out looking for some place to hide.

"You have such a wild imagination, Harry," Molly said with a forced laugh, "Arthur just pulled some strings at work. We don't have a car anymore and since Arthur works there, they're doing him a favor." her voice was casual but her undertone warned him to stop prying. Harry locked eyes with Molly for a few minutes before looking over at Arthur who had gone red, just like Ron's did when he was under pressure or lying. Harry sighed before turning away from them and slid off his bed.

"You know, neither of you are very good at lying, which makes me wonder where Fred and George learned to lie so well." Harry said while stretching. "Anyways, it's time for my daily mental exercises, I'll be going to Mind Healer Rose today." Harry walked calmly to his door and opened it, but before he walked through it he paused, his grip in the door handle tightening. "I hate it when people I trust lie to me." Was the last thing he said before leaving.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Harry was cleared to leave the hospital early the next morning with enough time for him to catch a ride in the ministry cars with everyone else. He would be allowed to attend Hogwarts at the same time as everyone else on the condition that he continue meeting his Mind Healer. The Ministry of Magic cars seemed almost ordinary, though Harry noticed that they could slide through gaps that a muggle car certainly couldn't have managed. They reached King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare; the Ministry drivers found them trolleys, unloaded their trunks, touched their hats in salute to Arthur, and drove away, somehow managing to jump the head of an unmoving line at the traffic light.

Molly kept close to Harry's elbow all the way into the station, as Arthur kept close to Haiden, proving Harry right.

"Right then," Arthur said glancing around them, "let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Haiden." Arthur strolled toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, pushing Haiden's trolley and apparently very interested in the InterCity 125 that had just arrived at platform nine. With a meaningful look at Haiden, he leaned casually against the barrier. Haiden imitated him. And then it was Harry and Molly's turn.

The moment Harry's eyes landed on the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet steam engine, puffing smoke over a platform packed with witches and wizards seeing their children onto the train, Harry froze getting a feeling that something bad was going to happen to him. Harry got hit from behind by Ginny who had just ran through the portal with Percy, knocking Harry to the ground.

"Good going Weaslette." Draco's voice floated over to them as someone ran over and helped Harry up off the floor.

"It's wasn't her fault." Harry defended allowing Myari, the person who had helped him up, lead him away from the portal, and to Draco so that he could check him over. Once the remaining Weasleys and Hermione had joined them, Harry allowed Draco to lead the way to the end of the train, past packed compartments, to a carriage that looked quite empty across the way from another compartment with Haiden following them with Hermione and a grumbling Ron.

They loaded their trunks, Heimdallr, Bubo bubo (Draco's owl), Hedwig, Loki, and Crookshank, along with Myari and Luna's pets into the compartment then went back to say goodbye to Arthur and Molly who had been joined by Lucius and Narcissa. Molly kissed all her children, then Hermione, and finally Harry and Haiden. Narcissa hugged and kissed Draco, before hugging and kissing Harry and Myari.

"Do take care, won't you, Harry, Haiden?" Molly said as she straightened up, her eyes oddly bright. Then she opened her enormous handbag and said, "I've made you all sandwiches… Here you are, Ron...no, they're not corned beef… Fred? Where's Fred? Here you are dear…"

"Harry," Arthur Weasley said quietly tugging gently on Harry's hand causing Lucius to look at Arthur suspiciously, "come over here a moment." He jerked his head toward a pillar, and Harry followed him having a feeling what this was going to be about. "There's something I've got to tell you before you leave. You were right." Arthur said in a tense voice that caused Harry to smirk.

"I know." Harry said. "Anyone with a brain that pays attention could have figure it out. I'm sure everyone in your family, well, most everyone in your family has figured out why we were given the cars. What I want to know is what is the connection between Sirius, Haiden, and me?"

"Sirius is after you and Haiden." Arthur said and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well that's obvious, but why?" Harry said slightly annoyed and Arthur looked panicked and a little sick.

"I'm not permitted to say." Arthur said.

"Who says?" Harry asked angrily.

"The Minister." Arthur muttered just loud enough for Harry to hear.

"Oh, just the minister." Harry said sarcastically. "Who the hell is he to say what me and my brother should know about a dangerous man that is after us?" Harry growled out before turning the head back to the group, but Arthur quickly grabbed his wrist to keep him from leaving. "If you are not going to tell me more about Sirius then let me go before I make you. On second thought, don't worry about telling me, I'll find out on my own, that way you can crawl to the minister and tell him you had no idea how I knew." Harry hissed before yanking his wrist from Arthur's grasp and stormed back over to the group, only to be stopped by Lucius.

"Everything alright, Harry?" He asked and Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Yeah, just a small argument, but everything will be alright. I'll make sure of it." Harry said and the train whistle sounded. "I need to get on the train." Lucius glanced around before pulling Harry into a hug.

"Talk to Remus about Sirius." Lucius whispered into his ear before letting him go. "Behave yourself Harry, I don't want to hear anything about you being taken to the Hospital Wing for any reason this year. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir." Harry said before jogging onto the train before the Guards walking along the train slammed the door shut. Harry walked towards the compartments and snorted when he saw Draco, Myari, Luna, and the Weasley Twins in one compartment and Haiden, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and a 'sleeping' Remus in the other compartment. Seemed each group wanted to be close to Harry, but was not willing to share a compartment.

"What did our father want with you, Kitten?" Fred asked when he spotted Harry standing in the corridor between both compartments.

"Nothing, just telling me to be safe and not over do it." Harry lied smoothly before motioning to both compartments. "One not big enough?"

"Not enough space for both Ron and Draco's ego and attitude." George joked and a wad of paper flew from Haiden's compartment, past Harry's face, and hit Fred.

"Ow." Fred said falling over and pretended to die.

"Fred! No! I shall avenge you! This means war!" George vowed magicking up some more paper wads and Harry laughed as he dodged out of the way as the war commenced.

"Help us Harry!" Haiden laughed out as Hermione gently pulled Harry into their compartment.

"Hey! No fair! He's ours!" Myari cried out while laughing as she sent her own wads of paper.

"Not any more! We've stolen him! He belongs to us now!" Hermione jokingly yelled out.

"Oh no! Draco help me!" Harry playfully cried out as Hermione sat him on the ground next to a silently laughing yet still 'sleeping' Remus.

"So annoying." Ron grumbled sitting with his arms crossed watching everyone else had fun. The group played silly games with each other, taking turns to 'kidnap' Harry and even starting multiple wars with each other. And the only ones to not join in were Ron and Remus who was till pretending to be asleep. And because they were all so busying having fun, no one questioned why Remus was 'sleeping' on the train to Hogwarts with them.

But the fun came to a stop when the train suddenly stopped. "Why are we stopping?" Hermione asked getting up from her seat to look around the compartment. The group had begun talking about everything and nothing, basically trying to get to know one another. "We can't be there yet." Harry got up from Draco's lap and stepped out into the corridor just as the other students poked their heads out.

The train violently jerked knocking everyone off balance, closing every compartment door and causing Harry to fall to the corridor floor. The lanterns in the train flickered off and Harry's bad feeling came back ten times stronger. "Harry!" Haiden and Draco yelled and tried to each open their compartment doors but couldn't. Something was keeping all the compartment doors shut, and Harry had a feeling that it might be his magic trying to keep everyone safe.

"There's something moving out there." He heard the muffled voice of Ron say as the lanterns flickered back on and off again. The corridor suddenly began to get ice cold, frost began to cover the windows and Harry's breaths began to show. Harry slowly climbed to his feet, his whole body shaking from both the cold and fear. The train violently jerked again, and Harry barely had time to catch himself before he fell to the floor again.

As the train got colder, the students trapped in their compartments began to freak out and Harry's body automatically fell into a defensive position. The train violently jerked once more and Harry's shoulder slammed against the wall. "Bloody hell! What's happening?" He heard Ron yell as Harry saw what he would describe as his worst nightmare slowly making it's way towards him. His friends began to scream at him to run away, but Harry's body was frozen to the spot.

"Harry, listen to me." Remus suddenly called out, it seemed he finally decided to drop the sleeping act. "You need to move away from that thing." But Harry couldn't. "Move Harry!" All Harry could do was watch with large, fearful eyes as the thing crept closer. "HARRY!" Remus yelled and began to try and force the compartment door open, but every time he got it open even just a fraction, Harry's magic would slam the door shut again. "Harry let me out! I can help you! I know how to fight it!" But it was too late. The creature had made it's way to Harry and was now floating in front of him.

The creature was covered by a long, torn, black cloak, it's face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downwards, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greying, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead had decayed in water…

But it was only visible for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak.

And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings. An intense cold swept over Harry who felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart…

Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder…

And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn't… a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him- along with the strangest sense of Deja Vu…

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

 _Remember._

"I think he's breathing again!"

 _Beware the Dog._

"He's coming to!"

 _Befriend the Wolf._

"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"

Harry opened his eyes; there were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking- the Hogwarts Express was moving again and the lights had come back on. He seemed to have been moved from the corridor to a compartment bench. Everyone was kneeling beside him but the first person his eyes focused on was Remus then Draco and Haiden before everyone else. Harry felt very sick.

"You okay?" Ron grunted out from his spot of leaning against the compartment door.

"Yeah." Harry muttered looking passed Ron out to the corridor. The hooded creature had vanished. "What happened? Where's that- that thing? Who screamed? Are they okay? Did they get help?" Harry asked and everyone looked around nervously.

"No one screamed, we yelled but no one screamed." Myari explained. Harry looked around the compartment, Ginny looked pale, Ron looked bored, and everyone else looked worried for him, but everyone seemed to be telling him the truth about no one screaming.

"But I'm sure I heard screaming-" Harry muttered. A loud snap made them all jump, Remus was breaking an enormous slab of Chocolate into pieces.

"Here, this will help." He said handing Harry a particularly large piece. He took the piece and nibbled on it still feeling sick.

"Can I ask why one of Harry's new dads is on the train with us?" Ron asked as Remus handed everyone else a piece of chocolate.

"I got asked by Dumbledore at the last minute to be the new DADA Professor." Remus explained as he began to check over Harry.

"What was that thing?" Draco asked pulling Harry closer to him.

"A Dementor." Remus said finishing up his quick exam. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban." Remus explained standing up and wiping off his hands. "Right. I'll be back, I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…" He stormed out of the compartment with his eyes flashing gold.

"Remind me never to piss him off." The Weasely twins said together.

"What happened?" Harry asked leaning against Draco, suddenly feeling very drained.

"You apparently magically locked every compartment door to keep up away from the Dementor-thing. It looked at you (or I think it did, I couldn't see your face)- and you - you-" Haiden started gripping Harry's hand.

"I thought you were having fit or something." Draco said looking scared, tightening his arms around Harry. "You went rigid before collapsing. You started twitching, but the doors didn't unlock until this small half white half black ball of… something floated out of your mouth."

"That was his soul." Myari muttered from her spot curled up to Luna. "The Dementor sucked his soul out of his body. I've heard about them being able to do that, but I never saw it happen until now. It would have continued sucking the soul into itself had Remus not acted so fast. I've never seen anyone move as fast as he had, nor as angrily. It reminded me of the stories my Papa used to tell me about his great grandfather during a hunt."

"She's right. The second Remus could, he bolted from the room, stood over you with his wand out, and said 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloak. Go.' But the Dementor didn't move, so Remus muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…" Hermione said.

"Are you sure you all are all right?" Harry asked.

"We're fine Harry." Hermione said.

"And you're sure no one was screaming? None of you heard anyone screaming?" Harry asked.

"No one was screaming." Luna told him.

The rest of the trip to Hogwarts was filled with tense silences and jumping at every sound. No one left the compartment alone, and all of them stayed packed in that one compartment until they got to Hogwarts. And even then, this new strange group of students that had all once been at each other's throats were now bundled up so close that it was impossible to penetrate. And Harry was stuck in the center of the group, feeling both warmed that his friends cared so much for him that they willingly put aside their differences to protect him, and worried about what this attack entailed about the rest of the school year.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three- Stop! Rewind!**

When Harry entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, the first thing he saw was Draco and Myari knelt between Haiden and Hermione whispering up a storm while Ron's face looked ready to explode. Luna, who seemed to have been waiting for him beside the door, latched onto his arm with a whimsical sigh.

"Just ignore her." Luna whispered and before Harry could ask who he was supposed to ignore, Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl with a face like a pug, stood up and shrieked like a banshee.

"Hey, Potter!" Harry ignored her and started to walk towards the Gryffindor table with Luna, noticing everyone's attention was now on Pansy. Draco looked ready to kill.

"Parkinson, if you don't stop right now you will regret it!" Draco yelled at her, Pansy just smirked and pulled her hood over her head.

"The dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo!" Pansy shrieked out causing a small portion of Slytherins to laugh awkwardly, as if not knowing if it was alright to laugh or not, while the other Slytherins looked nervously between Pansy and Draco who looked ready to run over and kill Pansy. Harry quickly made his way to the Gryffindor table and grabbed Draco's arm before he could do anything stupid.

"I told her, I told all of them, not to say anything! I ordered it." Draco growled out, his eyes flashing murderously.

"Don't worry about it." Harry told Draco as he allowed himself to be pulled into Fred's lap as Myari tossed a piece of paper at him.

"Your third-year course schedules." She told him.

"This year is going to be a little different for you, this year your classes won't be filled with just one or two houses, they will be comprised of all the houses." George warned them.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"The last two years the school chose what classes you had, this year, you got to chose. So some classes would have one or two students from a house if they didn't combine." Fred explained.

"I see." Hermione said and began to play with a golden chain necklace that fell under her shirt. Harry snatched Hermione's class schedule.

"Hermione, love, they've messed up your schedule. Look- they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough _time_." Harry said and Hermione tried to take her schedule back, but Harry held it away from her.

"I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall." Hermione said still trying to get her schedule back, only for George to take it from Harry.

"Oh really? Then how are you going to get to not only your nine o'clock Divination, but your nine o'clock Muggle Studies and your nine o'clock Arithmancy." George read off.

"Jesus Hermione, I know you're good, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?" Haiden said obviously concerned for his girlfriend.

"Don't be silly." Hermione said shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once." Snatching her schedule back from George.

"Well, then-" Haiden started but Hermione cut him off.

"Pass the marmalade." Hermione said stiffly.

"But-" Haiden tried again but Hermione slammed her hands down on the table in annoyance gaining the attention of the students around them.

"What's it to you if my schedule's a bit full?" Hermione snapped causing Haiden to look scared and confused which made Hermione look quilty. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I already told you, I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall." Before anyone could continue on the conversation of Hermione's schedule, Hagrid entered the Great Hall. He was wearing his long moleskin overcoat and was absentmindedly swinging a dead polecat from one enormous hand.

"All righ'? He asked eagerly, pausing on the way to the staff table, Harry kicked Draco when he opened his mouth to most likely insult Hagrid. "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five gettin' everythin' ready… Hope it's okay… Me, a teacher… hones'ly…" He grinned broadly at them and headed off to the staff table, still swinging the polecat.

"Can't wait." Draco said sarcastically looking like he just swallowed a lemon.

"Wonder what he's been getting ready?" Ron asked, a note of anxiety in his voice.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Harry said before Draco could make a smart ass answer to Ron, he didn't want to deal with people fighting right now.

"I don't remember asking for your opinion." Ron snapped at him.

"And if I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart." Harry countered without skipping a beat causing Haiden to spit out his drink in laughter.

"We'd better go, look, Divination at the top of North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there…" Haiden said awkwardly as the hall started to empty.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The Divination classroom was the strangest-looking classroom Harry had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and an old fashioned tea shop. At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and gat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the window were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle. The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

Harry covered his nose to try and block out the perfume and started following Draco to a set in the back when something brushed against his mind. He spun around and found Professor Trelawney watching them with foggy eyes. Harry's immediate impression was that this was someone not to mess with, his second impression was that of a large, glittering insect. Once she took notice that she had been noticed, she moved into the firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.

"Sit, my children, sit." She said and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poof. Draco and Harry shared a round table next to Haiden, Hermione, and Ron. "Welcome to Divination." Professor Trelawney said after she seated herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye." Nobody said anything to this extraordinary pronouncement. Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued.

"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in this field…"

"You hear that, Harry, best leave now." Ron hissed at him before grunting in pain.

"Oops. Sorry, my foot slipped." Hermione whispered making Harry snicker.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearances, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future." Professor Trelawney carried on as if she didn't hear them, her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to nervous face. "It is a gift granted to a few. You, boy," She said suddenly to Neville, who almost toppled off his pouf. "Is your grandmother well?"

"I-I think so." Neville said nervously.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." Professor Trelawney said, the firelight glinting on her long emerald earring. Neville gulped. Professor Trelawney continued placidly. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," She shot suddenly at Harry, "Beware the dog." Harry tried to play off her words, but they frightened him more than he let on.

"In the second term," Professor Trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball- if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever." A very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but Professor Trelawney seemed unaway.

"I wonder, dear," She said to Lavender Brown, who was nearest and shrank back in her chair, "if you could pass me the largest silver teapot." Lavender, looking relieved, stood up, took an enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on the table in front of Professor Trelawney. "Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading - it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October. Lavender trembled.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The rest of the class went that way, Professor Trelawney would have them read each other's tea leaves before picking a random student and warn them of a terrible fate. Haiden and Harry both got was Trelawney call the 'Grim' in their tea leaves causing Professor Trelawney to freak out. And from what their Divination book told them about the 'Grim' she had every right.

The second class ended Hermione disappeared leaving Draco, Harry, Haiden, and Ron behind confused and slightly worried. The group left Divination laughing and trying to put the constant danger everyone was in behind them, Harry tripped and started to fall down the countless stairs when the world slowly came to a stop only to suddenly go backwards. Harry blinked only to find himself back inside the Divination classroom.

"Where is she?" Harry heard Ron whisper.

"Welcome." Professor Trelawney called softly from the shadows. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last." Harry looked around confused at what was happening, was someone pulling a prank on him? Had the Twins drugged him at last? "Sit, my children, sit." Harry stood around still trying to figure what the hell was going on as everyone climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs. "Something wrong, my dear?" Trelawney asked him.

"Did we just have Divination?" Harry asked.

"Class as only just started, my dear." Trelawney told him kindly.

"No, I'm pretty sure I just sat through your class. You alluded to Neville that his grandmother was not well, you told me to beware the dog, informed Lavender that whatever she was dreading about would happen October 16th. And me and my brother both received a Grim in our tea leaves." Harry told her and Trelawney flung herself away from him with a loud gasp before peering at him through her glasses.

"Could it be?" Trelawney whispered cautiously walking over to Harry. "Has your Inner Eye already opened that much?" Trelawney suddenly ushered him to sit in her chair and began asking him to 'see' thing. And that was the whole lesson. After the end of the lesson, Harry went to leave but Trelawney stopped him and tried to get him to 'see' some more. In her excitement she knocked over her tea set and before Harry could try to grab them, the world slowly came to a stop before once again going backwards. Harry blinked and found himself standing in the group of students that had just entered the Divination classroom.

"Oh god damn it, not again!" Harry cried in annoyance crumbling into a ball.

"I knew Dumbledore shouldn't have let him come back to school, not even one day and he's already having a mental breakdown. Should have stayed in the coma." Harry barely heard Ron mutter under his breath. Fed up with everything that was happening, Harry shot up, spun around and glared at Ron.

"I'd slap you, but that'd be animal abuse." Harry growled out before storming over to the seat he sat in the first time he went through this class and just mentally tuned everything out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four- Talons and Tantrums**

Harry was not in a good mood, and Ron making fun of his 'mental breakdown' in Divination wasn't making things any better, in fact they were making everything worse. Harry stomped down the wet, slippery grass towards Hagrid's hut for his first class of Care of Magical Creatures, his _The Monster Book of Monsters_ under his arms. Draco was next to him keeping him from turning around and killing Ron who was following him, taunting him, with Haiden trying desperately to get him to shut up. Hermione was suspiciously nowhere to be seen.

The walk to Hagrid's hut felt like forever but finally their group made it, along with the other students taking the course. Harry was thankful that Hagrid was waiting for them when they got there, at least then he would have to listen to Ron while waiting for Hagrid. Hagrid stood at the door of his hut in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels. Fang began whining when he saw Harry, and looked like he wanted to bolt over to him. Thankfully Fang stayed where he was.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" Hagrid called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" For one nasty moment, Harry thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the Forest, and Harry really wouldn't put it past the half-giant to do so. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a king of paddock. There was nothing there.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" He called. "That's it - make sure yeh can see - now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"How?" Draco asked holding his book, which was bound shut with a length of rope, at arm's length away while looking at it as if it were about to bite his arm off, and had the book not been growling dangerously and glaring at Draco Harry would have thought Draco was overreacting.

"Eh?" Hagrid asked.

"How do we open our books?" Draco repeated. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Draco and Haiden, had bound their book shut; other had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.

"Hasn' - hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked looking crestfallen. The class shook their heads. "Yeh've got ter stroke 'em." Hagrid said as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look-" He took Harry's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco sneered taking Harry's book from Hagrid and handing it back to Harry. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

"Draco, hush." Harry told him, Draco went to argue but the glare Harry gave him shut him up. Ron snickered and muttered something to Haiden who stifled a laugh before whispering for him to shut up.

"Righ' then," Hagrid said, it was obviously lost his thread, "so - so yeh've got yer books an' - an' - now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on." He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight. Draco spun to glare at the still snickering Ron.

"Something funny, Weasel?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, and it's how whipped you are." Ron said getting into Draco's face. Harry sighed in annoyance before using his magic to drag Ron and Draco apart shocking all the students around them who had never witnessed Harry using wandless and wordless magic.

"At least wait a few weeks into the school year to get suspended." Harry said as Hagrid came back.

"Oooooooh!" Lavender Brown squealed pointing towards the creatures Hagrid was bringing towards them. Trotting towards them was the most bizarre creature Harry had ever seen outside of a book. It had the body, hind legs, and tail of a horse but the front legs, wings, and head of what seemed to be a giant eagle, with a cruel, steel-colored beak and large, brilliantly orange eyes. The talons on its front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. The beast had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creature.

"Gee up, there!" He roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creature to the fence.

"A Hippogriff? Really?" Harry asked in shock.

"Say 'ello ter Buckbeak. Isn't 'e beau'iful?" Hagrid asked beaming while waving a hand at them. Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the hippogriff's gleaming coat, changing smoothly from feather to hair.

"Firs' thin' yer want ter know 'bout Hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. Yer do not want ter insult a Hippogriff. It may just be the last yer ever do." Hagrid warned them seriously. "Now," He boomed excitedly clapping his hands, "who'd like ter come and say 'ello?" As Hagrid turned to grab Buckbeak's chain, Harry felt himself be shoved forward as Ron whispered in his ear:

"You like being around large animals that can kill you, right?" And before Harry could get back in line Hagrid turned and saw him.

"Well done, 'Arry. Well done." Hagrid praised and Harry turned back to glare at Ron only to see Haiden holding Draco back from most likely killing Ron. "Come on now." Harry nervously and slowly made his way to Hagrid and Buckbeak who was watching him. "Now… yer have ter let 'im make the firs' move It's only polite." Harry stopped walking when Hagrid motioned for him to stop.

"Give 'im a nice bow. Then yer wait and see if 'e bows back. And if 'e does, yer can go and touch him. And if not… well, we'll get ter tha' later." Harry awkwardly bowed hoping later wouldn't be now. "Tha's it, nice and low." Harry tensed when Buckbeak squawked at him and angrily flapped his wings.

"Back off, Arry! Back off!" Hagrid urgently told him and Harry quickly backed away while still bowing only to step on a stick and snapped it. "Keep still." Hagrid whispered to him and Harry froze. Harry peeked up through his bangs to watch Buckbeak who was watching him. And then Buckbeak bowed back.

"Well done, Arry. Well done." Hagrid praised and Harry rose from his bow letting a relieved sigh pass his lips. "Right. Now I think yer can go and pat 'im now." Harry looked at Hagrid in alarm, Hagrid wanted him to do what? Pat the large creatures with talon that could slice him in half? "Go on. Don't be shy." Harry started backing away from Buckbeak instead of towards him, but Hagrid stopped Harry and gently began pushing him towards Buckbeak. "Nice and slow there." Hagrid lifted Harry's arm up so that Harry could pet Buckbeak who snapped at either him or Hagrid, either way Harry tensed up in fear. Finally Hagrid stopped pushing Harry towards Buckbeak but made sure he wouldn't back down nor drop his arm. "Now, let 'im come ter yer."

Harry was sure that Buckbeak could smell Harry's fear as it sniffed the air as it got closer. Buckbeak got close enough that Harry could feel the heat from him, but he made no move to actually touch the Hippogriff that was looking him in his eyes. From the pleading look in Buckbeak's eyes, Harry was sure he was begging Harry not to be afraid of him. Harry never took his eyes from Buckbeak's as the Hippogriff rubbed his head against Harry's hand.

"Yes!" Hagrid cheered while clapping causing everyone else to clap.

"You're doing great Harry!" Haiden called out to him.

"Be better if this was you and not me." Harry muttered.

"Well done, 'Arry! Well done!" Hagrid said. "I think 'e may let yer ride 'im now."

"Wait what?" Harry asked before he was sudden lifted off the ground and placed on Buckbeak. "No! Get me off! I don't want to fly! Get me down!"

"Don't pull out any of 'is feathers, 'cause 'e won' thank yer fer tha'." Hagrid said before he slapped Buckbeak's back causing him to rear up. Harry quickly wrapped his arms around Buckbeak's neck to keep from flying off as the Hippogriff took off running before he opened his wings and took off all while Harry screamed in fear.

"Go get Professor Snape!" Was the last Harry heard before the wind got to loud to hear anything else. At the beginning of the flight, Harry hid his face in Buckbeak's neck waiting to feel the sensation of wrongness that he always got when he flew on a broomstick. And it hit him hard.

Harry didn't know how long Buckbeak flew them, all he knew was that his magic began to lash out. After what felt like years, Buckbeak finally landed, but Harry's magic continued to lash out. The sounds of students screaming and Buckbeak squawking and continuously backing away.

"What is going on here?" Severus's deep voice cut through everything, even the fear in Harry's mind.

"Dad." Harry whimpered and barely registered Severus going from concerned teacher to concerned parent.

"Professor Hagrid, there had better be a good explanation as to why my son, one of your students, is sitting on a Hippogriff so terrified that his magic has begun to lash out?" Severus asked tight lipped. Hagrid tried to stutter out an explanation but was too nervous and scared of Severus to make any coherent sentences. Severus sneered at Hagrid before making his way over to Harry causing Buckbeak to squawk and rear up. "Oh hush you over grown pigeon, you have my terrified son on you're either going to give him to me willingly or I will knock your arse out and take him." Severus warned and Buckbeak took a second to watch Severus with a tilted head before he bowed and allowed Severus to walk up to him and gently pull Harry off his back. "Your class is now over."

"I - uh - yes - class is over." Hagrid declared nervously before chasing after Severus.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

After Severus carried Harry away, he was taken to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey was ordered by Severus to call Harry's Mind Healer as Dumbledore walking in with Hagrid following him. Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore tried to get Harry to explain what happened while Dumbledore also tried to tell Harry that Hagrid was not at fault. All Harry did was curl up in Severus's lap and ignoring everyone as he waited for his Mind Healer to arrive. And when she arrived, everyone in the room knew she was there.

"Please tell me there is not a group of people surrounding my patient. He's already distressed enough to call for me, and so help me Merlin if you're making his condition worse." Krystan said right after stepping out of the floo.

"I assure you, Mind Healer Krystan, that we were only here to make sure Young Harry was alright." Dumbledore assured her.

"Yeah, save the bullshit for someone dumb enough to believe it." Krystan said before moving to stand in between Harry and Dumbledore. "Now, me and my patient need you all to leave." Dumbledore opened his mouth to respond but the world slowed to a stop before rewinding. And suddenly Harry was back to standing outside the fence. Harry groaned and looked around, and noticed that Hermione was with suddenly there.

"Everyone gather 'round the -" Hagrid was saying, but Harry had already heard all this.

"When did you get here?" Harry asked Hermione who looked at him like he was crazy.

"What are you talking about, Harry, I've been here the whole time." Hermione said and Haiden nodded agreeing with her.

"Okay, fine, whatever." Harry huffed out crossing his arms and looked back at Hagrid. "Continue." He practically ordered.

"Er, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-" Hagrid continued awkward.

"How?" Draco asked holding his book, which was bound shut with a length of rope, at arm's length away while looking at it as if it were about to bite his arm off.

"Stroke it." Harry said annoyed as he pulled out his own bound book and stroked the spine causing the book to open. The class continued the same as the first time, except for when Ron tried to push Harry foreward, this time Harry was waiting for it and was able to spin around and push Ron away from him into Haiden who stumbled forward. And Harry wouldn't mind if Haiden were to take his place with Buckbeak, but the Hippogriff had another opinion. The second he saw Harry, Buckbeak squawked happily and bound towards Harry who quickly backed away.

"Stay away from me you overgrown pigeon!" Harry cried as he continued to back away from the Hippogriff that seemed to think they were playing a game. "Hagrid! Get your damn pet away from me!" Harry yelled. But Hagrid wasn't the one to try to come to Harry's rescue, but Draco.

"Get away from him you great ugly brute!" Draco yelled running over. It happened to fast for Harry to stop it and in a flash of steely talons; Draco let out a high pitched scream and the next moment, Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he strained to get at Draco, who lay curled in the grass in front of Harry, blood blossoming over his robes.

"It's killed me!" Draco moaned holding his arm as Harry bent to try and calm him.

"Stop overreacting, it's just a scratch." Harry told him but Draco didn't seem to hear him.

"Hagrid!" Hermione cried running over to them in worry. "He has to be taken to the hospital!"

"I'm the teacher. I'll do it." Hagrid said before carefully picking Draco up, making sure not bump Draco's wound nor jolt it to much.

"Just wait 'till my father hears about this. You're going to regret this." Draco warned as Hagrid carried him away.

"Class dismissed." Hagrid said over his shoulder and Harry just sat on the ground and sighed as he rubbed his forehead. Buckbeak came over and laid down next to Harry and rested his head on Harry's legs.

"Don't try to be cute, that's not going to get you out of trouble. Why are you even acting this way, almost as if you also remember everything before the rewind." Harry muttered.

"Are you alright Harry?" Hermione asked kneeling down while making sure her skirt wasn't showing anything.

"Peachey." Harry growled resting a hand on Buckbeak to keep him from attacking Hermione.

"He's gonna be alright." Hermione said.

"I know." Harry told her looking her in the eye while calling his magic to his eyes, something was telling him she was the cause of the rewinds. And the unusual magic settling on her chest caused a panic to rise in Harry's chest. "What's that." Harry asked her.

"What's what?" Hermione asked.

"What's that around your neck." Harry asked and Hermione's eyes widened and her hand shot to to the gold chain that was peeking out from under her shirt.

"Nothing. Just a birthday gift." Hermione said quickly before standing up and practically running towards the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five- The Boggart in the Wardrobe**

Haiden was worried about his brother, Harry had been acting strange for a few days. At first Haiden thought it was because of what happened with Buckbeak and Draco. But after watching him, Haiden noticed that at the start of every class Harry would jolt and take a sharp inhale of breath like he had been holding it for awhile. And nothing that happened in class seemed to phase him anymore, like he knew everything that would happen before it did. But anything that happened between the classes always seemed to surprise him. And Harry also seemed to annoy a lot easier.

Haiden walked into the Hospital Wing and walked over to Draco who was sitting in a bed, his right arm covered in bandages and bound in a sling, and pouting up a storm. When he got to Draco's bed the two of them stared at each other in awkward silence. Each of them seemed to be waiting for the other to do or say something. The day Draco had gotten attacked, Haiden and him had decided to try and call a truce, for Harry's sake.

"What?" Draco asked. Haiden took a deep breath while fighting down the urge to say a snappy comment, their truce was new, no need to ruin it.

"I know you've been in the hospital and all, but have you noticed anything strange happening with Harry?" Haiden asked. Draco opened his mouth to say something before seemingly catching himself and closing his mouth again. Haiden watched as Draco looked away in thought, Haiden stood patiently and let him think.

"He's become easily irritated, but that could be because, well you know." Draco said tightly and Haiden nodded understanding what Draco was getting out.

"Because of the co-" Haiden started but stopped when a loud animalistic growl flew out of Draco's mouth, Haiden took a half step back at the murderous look in Draco's eyes.

"Don't say it!" Draco growled out. "Don't you dare finish that word! If you finish that word you can kiss our truce goodbye, because I will kill you!"

"Mind Healer Krystan says-" Haiden started wirily.

"I know what that Mind Healer said! You weren't the only one to have a damn session with her." Draco growled out.

"You had a session with her? Why? I know I had one because she was worried about the fact that I had been there and seen the whole thing." Haiden said. Draco looked away with a tight lip look and Haiden thought that that would be the end of it. But before Haiden could think of another topic of conversation, Draco continued.

"I'm not crazy." Draco hissed out.

"I know you're not." Haiden said awkwardly, Draco stopped talking again and this time Haiden knew that Draco was searching for either the words or the courage to continue speaking. Haiden awkwardly looked around for a chair and awkwardly sat down when Draco started again.

"My father was worried, and my mother was scared." Draco muttered just loud enough for Haiden to hear. "I freaked out. The night Harry fell into-" Draco paused and looked to be fighting something. "I felt it." He whispered.

"Felt it?" Haiden repeated. "Felt what?"

"The second Harry-" Draco stopped again and gulped. "I felt the second he was bitten, the second he slipped into his...his coma. And I just- I lost it. Professor Snape had to take me to my parents, at that time know one knew what had happened to Harry."

"I think I understand." Haiden said and went to lay a comforting hand on Draco's shoulder but Draco let out another animalistic growl causing Haiden to freeze.

"No you don't!" Draco angrily growled out. "You don't know understands how it felt to have your soul practically ripped out of your chest. How it felt to have your world tilt and crumble. How it felt for your heart to be ripped out! You don't know what it felt to die!" Haiden stood frozen in shock, Draco had felt all that before any knowledge of what happened down in the chamber.

"I-I didn't know." Haiden whispered.

"Only Myari, Luna, and Professor Snape know about it." Draco muttered before laying back on his bed and turned so that his back was towards Haiden. "I'm tired." He said and it took Haiden a minute to realise what Draco was saying and stood up to leave. "Oh, and this conversation never happened."

"Understood. Hope to see you in class." Haiden told Draco before leaving the Hospital Wing.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Draco didn't reappear in class until late Thursday afternoon in the first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson of the year, Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived. Haiden shared a small nod with Draco when he walked in with Harry who was happily chatting with him and practically clinging to Draco's arm. But the second they stepped into the classroom, Harry's eyes glazed over for a second before his body gave a slight jolt, and he sucked in a breath of air. Draco sent Haiden a questioning look and Haiden nodded as Harry looked around.

Haiden sat down at the same table as Harry and Draco, making sure that Harry was in between him and Draco. Everyone but Harry took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.

"Good afternoon." He said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands." He informed them. A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts before, unless you counted the memorable class last year when their old teacher had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.

"Right, then." Lupin said when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me." Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in the midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum. Peeves didn't look up until Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggles his curly-toed feet and broke into song.

"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang, "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin-" Rude and unmanageable as he almost alway was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers.

"Waddiwasi!" Harry suddenly said, and with the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing. Lupin turned towards Harry and opened his mouth, but Harry cut him off. "Saw you do it once." He said before he continued down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door with Professor Lupin and the rest of the class right behind him.

"Inside, please." Lupin said, opening the door and standing back. The staffroom, a long paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. Haiden noticed that Snape's eyes flew to Harry who had tensed up and was looking at an old wardrobe with a terrified look.

"Professor Lupin." Snape greeted never taking his eyes off Harry. "Would like any help with today's lesson?"

"Thank you, but I believe I can handle the lesson. But should something happen I will have someone fetch you, immediately." Lupin said and the look the two shared made Haiden feel like they weren't actually talking about the lesson, his eyes slid from the two professors to his brother. Haiden gently laid a hand on his brother's arm causing him to jump and look at him startled.

"You okay?" Haiden asked him softly.

"Yeah." Harry said with a forced smile. "I mean, if anything happens we have Re- I mean Professor Lupin here to keep us safe and make sure no one is in danger or gets hurt."

"That's right Harry." Lupin said, resting a calming hand on Harry's shoulder and gently squeezing before walking towards the end of the room towards the wardrobe, beckoning the class to follow him. The wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall, Harry gasped and gripped both Haiden's and Draco's hands.

"Nothing to worry about," Lupin said calmly as a few people jumped backwards in alarm, but Haiden felt that Lupin was talking more to Harry then them. "There's a boggart in there." Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Lupin a look of pure terror that matched Harry's look, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling door knob apprehensively. "Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces." Lupin informed. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboard under sinks, in sewers - I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice." Lupin told them with a smile and a chuckle.

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?" Hermione's hand flew up, shocking Haiden because he hadn't noticed her in the class before then.

"It's a shapeshifter." She said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most." Haiden sucked in a breath as the reason of Harry's fear made sense, if there was a boggart in that closet then anything from the Basilisk, to the Dementor, or even a dog could appear for him. Haiden moved closer to his brother.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Lupin said and Hermione glowed. "So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but what I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears." Neville let out a small sputter of terror, but Lupin carried on as if he never heard it. "That means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Haiden?"

Trying to answer a question with Hermione next to him, bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet with her hand in the air, and Harry shaking like a like a leaf was very off putting, but Haiden had a go.

"Er- because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

"Precisely." Lupin said and Hermione put her hand down looking a little disappointed. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become: a headless corpse, an evil clown, or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake - tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.

"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please… riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" Everyone said together.

"Good." Lupin said. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. Mr. Longbottom, would you please stand in front of the wardrobe." The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows. "Right, Neville," Lupin said, "first things first: What would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out. "Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry." Lupin said cheerfully while smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary.

Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape." Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Lupin, however, looked thoughtful.

"Professor Snape, yes, frightens all." Lupin joked with a smirk. "And I believe you live with your grandmother."

"Er - yes," Neville said nervously, "But - I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."

"No, no, you misunderstand me." Lupin said, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us, what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

Neville looked startled, but said, "Well… always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress… green, normally… and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

"And a handbag?" Lupin prompted.

"A big red one." Neville said.

"Right then." Lupin said. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"Yes." Neville said uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape." Lupin told him. "And you will raise your wand - thus- and cry 'Riddikulus' - and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag." There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently.

"If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn." Lupin warned. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…" A small whimper of fear from Harry caused Haiden, Draco, and Lupin to look at him in concern before Lupin continued the class. "Everyone ready?"

"Neville, we're going to back away." Lupin let him know. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward… Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot-" Everyone retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," Lupin said pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One - two - three - now!" A jet of sparks shot from the end of Lupin's want and hit the door knob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville. Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, he reached inside his robes.

"R-r-riddikulus!" Neville squeaked. There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eating vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Lupin shouted, Parvati! Forward!"

Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; it's sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising-

" _Riddikulus_!" Parvati cried. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" Lupin roared. Seamus darted past Parvati. _Crack_! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tented face - a banshee. She opened her mouth wide and an unearthly sound filled the room, a long, wailing shriek that made the hair on Haiden's head stad on end-

" _Riddikulus_!" Seamus shouted. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat; her voice was gone. _Crack_! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then - _crack_!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before - _crack_!- becoming a single, bloody eyeball.

"It's confused!" Lupin shouted. "We're getting there! Dean!" Dean hurried forward. _Crack_! The eye ball became a severed hand, which flipped over and began to creep along the floor like a crab.

" _Riddikulus_!" Dean yelled. There was a snap, and the hand was trapped in a mousetrap.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!" Ron leapt forward. _Crack_! Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking it's pincers menacingly. For a moment, Haiden thought Ron had frozen. Then-

" _Riddikulus_!" Ron bellowed and suddenly the spider was on quad skates. As Ron headed back into the line, he accidently bumped Harry forward into the boggart's sight. The boggart stared at Harry, reading him before turning into a dog. But not just any dog: a large, black, shaggy dog. The same dog Haiden had seen in the alley beside the Magical Menagerie.

Harry was frozen as the dog stalked closer to him. At seeing his brother frozen in fear, Haiden acted without thought and pushed Harry out of the way, the Boggart changed into a Dementor. The next thing Haiden knew, he was staring at Lupin's back.

"Riddikulus!" Lupin cried and a yellow balloon flew around the room releasing air until Lupin magically opened the wardrobe and it flew into the wardrobe where Lupin magically shut and locked it. "Right, well, sorry about that. Uh, that's enough for today. If you'd all like to collect your books from the classroom, that's the end of the lesson. Thank you." The class groaned as Haiden helped Harry off the ground where he had fallen to when Haiden had pushed him out of the way.

"Are you two okay?" Lupin asked while the others slowly filed out of the room. "Do I need to send for Severus?" Harry didn't verbally answer, his answer was throwing himself into Lupin's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six- Cat, Rat, and Dog**

In no time at all, Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class. Only Pansy and a few Slytherins had anything bad to say about Remus. "Look at the state of his robes." Pansy would say in a loud whisper as Remus passed. "He dresses like our old house-elf." And nothing that Draco threatened her with could get her to stop, Harry had a feeling she was doing everything she could think of to piss him off so that he would pay attention to her.

No one else cared that Remus's robes were patched and frayed, but every now and then Harry would see Severus sigh at the state of Remus's robes but never say anything. His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After boggarts (which Remus made sure to keep away from both Harry and Haiden), they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed: in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon those who had gotten lost. From Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

Harry only wished that he didn't have to relive every class more than once. But he did have to admit, it did definitely help learning the more difficult stuff. Harry was also growing to dread the hours he spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lopsided shapes and symbols, trying to ignore the way Professor Trelawney's enormous eyes filled with tears every time she looked at him. He couldn't like Professor Trelawney, even though she was treated with respect bordering on reverence by many of the class including his brother. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney's tower room at lunchtimes, and always returned with annoyingly superior looks on their faces, as though they knew things the others didn't. They had also started using hushed voices whenever they spoke to Harry, as though he were on his deathbed.

Nobody really like Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class (at least the one everyone remembers happened), had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were no spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence.

"Why would anyone bother looking after them?" Harry heard Ron complain after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the flobberworms' slimy throats.

At the start of October Harry had begun to skip classes the first go around and going to them after the rewind. He had even been able to talk the twins into letting him have their map of the school and began to explore. Harry loved the look of confusion when he was able to show them something they didn't know about when they didn't think he had the time to have gone exploring.

He walked into the Gryffindor common room one evening after exploring with Myari, showing her all the secrets he had found in the castle, to find the room buzzing excitedly.

"What's going on?" He asked Haiden and Hermione, who were sharing one of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for Astronomy.

"First Hogsmeade weekend." Haiden said pointing at a notice that was on the battered old bulletin board. "End of October. Halloween."

"Excellent." Fred said walking into the common room with George right behind them, their hair and clothes a mess as if they had just been out practicing, but they were coming from the dorms. "We need to visit Zonko's. We're nearly out of Stink Pellet." Harry threw himself into a chair beside the couple, his high spirits ebbing away. Hermione seemed to read his mind.

"Maybe if you and Professor Snape talk to Professor McGonagall and explain the situation, maybe she'll let you go." Hermione said and Harry nodded though he had a feeling that even though Professor McGonagall would understand the situation that she would not let him go.

"Yeah, and maybe when she lets you go to Hogsmeade maybe you'll be attacked and killed by Black and be out of our lives, forever." Ron muttered loud enough for their group to hear.

"RON!" Hermione and Haiden yelled in anger as Haiden shot out of the chair while Harry just looked into the fire.

"What the hell, man! I thought we agreed you would lay off him!" Haiden growled out and Ron glared at him. "Apologize to him!" Haiden demanded, Ron ignored him, Haiden looked ready to punch Ron when Harry finally decided to intervene.

"Leave it." Harry ordered.

"But-" Haiden started but stopped when Harry turned and looked at him.

"I said leave it, it's not worth it." Harry said and Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but at that moment Loki ran into the room just as Crookshanks leapt lightly onto her lap. Loki had a dead rat in his mouth while Crookshanks had a large, dead spider was dangling from his mouth. Loki dropped the rat in front of Ron and began batting causing him to make a strangled noise.

"Do they have to do that in front of us?" Ron asked scowling.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" Hermione asked with a smirk as Loki picked up his rat by its tail and tossed it into the air. Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed insolently on Ron.

"Do you want to tell Loki to move to another room to play and eat his catch, then you can be the one to wake up with dead rats, snakes, and spiders in your bed." Harry said practically daring Ron to do so. Ron looked between Harry and Loki who was not staring at him with the rat dangling by its tail in his mouth.

"J-just keep them over there, that's all." Ron said irritable, turning back to his star charts. "I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag." Harry noticed Loki's ear twitch before he looked contemplating at Ron's bag before huffing and continued to play with his catch.

Harry sighed and watched as Haiden and Hermione turned back to their star charts. "You should work on your star chart as well, Harry." Hermione told him

"I already finished mine." He informed her, Ron made a rude sound and then the next thing anyone knew, Loki had launched himself at Ron while Crookshanks pounced on Ron's bag.

"OY!" Ron roared, trying to fight Loki as he seized his bag as Crookshanks sank four sets of claws deep inside it and began tearing ferociously. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMALS!" Ron cried out as Loki got his claws into him as Ron tried to pull the bag away from Crookshanks, but Crookshanks clung on, spitting and slashing.

"Don't hurt him!" Hermione cried as Ron went to swat at Crookshanks but Loki pounced on his raised arm and bit him. The whole common room was watching; Ron pulled Loki off him and threw him away from him before he began to whirl his bag around, Crookshanks still clinging to it, and Scabbers came flying out of the top-

"CATCH THOSE CATS!" Ron yelled as Crookshanks freed himself from the remnants of the bag, sprang over the table, and both him and Loki chased after the terrified Scabbers. George made a lunge for Crookshanks but missed; Scabbers streaked through twenty pairs of legs and shot beneath an old chest of drawers. Both cats skidded to a halt, Crookshanks crouched low in his bandy legs and started making furious swipes beneath it with his front paw as Loki danced around the drawer seemingly keeping Scabbers trapped.

Ron and Hermione hurried over, while Harry casually made his over; Hermione grabbed Crookshanks around the middle and heaved him away; Ron tried to throw himself onto his stomach, but Loki wouldn't let him. "Harry get your damn cat!" Ron ordered and Harry stopped halfway to the drawer and just watched Loki attack Ron anytime he tried to get to Scabbers. After a few minutes Ron huffed and turned to glare at Harry. "Are you not going to get your stupid cat so I can save Scabbers."

"Maybe Loki will attack and kill Scabbers and he'll be out of our lives, forever." Harry said darkly shocking everyone. Ron stared at him with his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of something to say. "Hurts, don't it?" Harry said glaring at Ron who snapped his mouth shut as his face became bright red. "Next time think about what is coming out of your mouth." Harry said before walking over and snatching Loki up. Ron glared at Harry until he sat down with Loki sitting calmly in his lap, Ron then threw himself onto his stomach and, witch great difficulty, pulled Scabbers out by the tail.

"Look at him!" Ron said furiously to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front of her. "He's skin and bone! Keep your cats away from him!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione said, her voice shaking. "All cats chase rats, Ron! Right, Harry?"

"My cat knows what he's doing, that was him proving a point to Ron. If Loki really wanted to catch and kill Scabbers, he would be dead." Harry informed them causing Hermione's face to pale.

"W-well, I know Crookshanks didn't know, he was probably just going along with Loki." Hermione said.

"There's something funny about your cats!" Ron said glaring at Crookshanks as he tried to persuade a frantically wiggling Scabbers back into his pocket. "They heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"

"Oh, what rubbish!" Hermione said impatiently. "Crookshanks and Loki could smell him, Ron, how else d'you think-"

"Those cats have got it in for Scabbers!" Ron yelled ignoring the people around him who were starting to giggle. "And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!"

"Actually, Loki and Scabbers both here from the beginning." Harry corrected. Ron huffed before marching through the common room and out of sight up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

 **-Look Me In Your Heart-**

The day Harry was wandering the castle while most students in his year were in class having gotten bored of exploring the castle. He had just travelled from the school to Honeydukes and back via a hidden underground tunnel and it was close for the rewind. Harry was walking up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower when he spotted a large, shaggy looking black dog about to turn down the corridor towards the Fat Lady's painting.

Harry froze as the dog spun around. The two of stared at each other for a minute, the dog seemingly reading him, before the dog dropped into crouch to attack. Harry knew he needed to move away, but his legs were shaking too much to listen to him. The dog bared its teeth with dangerous growl, Harry took a step back just as the stairs decided to shift leaving him trapped with the dog.

Harry screamed, backed up, slipped and fell off the stairs as the dog lunged. Harry couldn't stop screaming as he kept falling as the stairs kept shifting out of his way. When Harry was positive that he was going to die, that this was the one time that the rewind wasn't going to happen, his falling slowly came to a stop before going backwards.

When the rewind finally stop Harry was walking in between Haiden and Draco. Harry fell to his knees and emptied his stomach while trying to gasp for breath. Everyone stopped walking and talking. "Harry!" Haiden, Draco, and Hermione, who just ran up to them, cried.

"What happened?" Hermione asked as Harry began to cry.

"I don't know, he just collapsed!" Haiden yelled.

"Why are you all just staring! Go get a Professor!" Draco yelled at the students that had stopped and just began to stare. Draco's yelled snapped a few students out of their shock and those students ran to get a professor. As they waited for a Professor to get there, Harry stopped throwing up, but kept gagging and trying to gasp for air. After what felt like an eternity, Professor McGonagall finally got there. She pushed her way through the crowd to get to Harry, and when she did get to Harry she quickly set to work to calming him.

"Shh, it's alright." McGonagall whispered calmingly as she pulled Harry into her lap and began to gently rock him and rub his back. "Deep breaths, that's it." She said as Harry was finally able to take a deep breath. "Slowly." She told him as he began to start hyperventilating. "Remus is here, I'm going to hand you over to him while I get the students to their classes." She informed him before he was handed over to Remus who Harry then clung too.

"It's alright, Harry, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." Remus said to him softly as he began to also rock Harry and run his free hand through Harry's hair. "You're safe, I won't let anything happen to you."

"I died." Harry croaked out.

"No Harry, you're alive." Remus gently told him.

"I died." Harry repeated and Remus shifted Harry in his hold so that Harry's ear was pressed up against Remus's chest.

"Do you hear that." Remus asked and Harry nodded weakly. Remus tugged at Harry's hair just hard enough to sting a little. "Do you feel that?" Remus asked and Harry nodded again. "Can you see me?" Harry opened his eyes and looked at Remus.

"Yes." Harry whispered and Remus smiled before standing up and placed Harry's feet on the ground and shifted Harry so that all of Harry's weight was on his legs.

"With your weight on your legs, do you feel heavy or light?" Remus asked, Harry took a minute to feel his own weight.

"Heavy." Harry told him and Remus nodded while running his fingers through Harry's hair.

"Then I am proud to tell you that you are alive." Remus said and Harry looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked sounding like the scared child he was.

"I'm positive." Remus told him before quickly sweeping Harry into his arms as his legs began to shake. "I believe you've had enough excitement today, let's get you somewhere where you can rest in peace." Remus then quickly took Harry to his and Severus's shaired room, laid him down and curled around him protectively. That was how McGonagall and Severus found them a few minutes later.

"Hey kiddo, how are you? Do you think you need Krystan to come?" Severus asked after kneeling beside the bed and began to gently run his fingers through Harry's hair. Harry shook his head.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" McGonagall asked gently and Harry shook his head again. "Alright, just know that we're here to listen when you are. You just rest, I will alert your other teachers that you will be out today."

"Beware the dog." Harry warned her, she looked confused for a second before nodding. She bid them farewell before leaving.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven- The Flight of the Fat Lady**

News about Harry spread faster than anyone could imagine, and the rumors about what happened were starting to get out of hand. The more tame rumors say that Harry died. It also didn't help that Harry hadn't been seen since that day. Harry had taken to hiding in Remus and Severus's room with either Remus, Severus, McGonagall, or Flitwick staying with him. Harry's friends visited him everyday, and even brought him treats from their trip to Hogsmeade.

"Do you think you'll be up for going to the feast tonight?" Hermione asked softly as she helped Harry with his classwork. Harry took a moment to think, he didn't really want to leave the safety of Remus and Severus's room, but he knew that he needed to get back to his classes. Maybe it was time to tell someone what was going on.

"I think I'm going crazy." Harry whispered to her, Hermione gave him a shocked look.

"Why do you think you're going crazy?" Hermione asked.

"I swear that time keeps rewinding." Harry told her refusing to look at her, he didn't want to see her looking at him like he was crazy.

"R-rewinding? W-what do you mean?" Hermione asked, almost sounding scared.

"I don't know how to explain it." Harry whispered.

"D-do you think you could try?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head. "Is-is it like Deja Vu?" Harry shook his head.

"I go to class, I have the class, and at the end of the class as I'm leaving time slows down before rewinding. Almost like a VHS tape. And when the rewind stops, I'm back at the beginning of the class." Harry explained, he looked at Hermione who gasped to see her clutching onto her necklace.

"A-a-are you sure?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded. "And this happens after every class?" She asked and once again, Harry nodded. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry." She cried and opened her clenched hands to show a Time Turner.

"Is that a-" Harry started.

"Yes." Hermione said. "Professor McGonagall gave it to me at the beginning of the year with the promise that I would only use it to get to all of my classes. I'm the only one who can use this."

"But the Time Turner is only suppose to affect the person who is wearing it. Why am I being affected by it?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, but we have to tell McGonagall about this!" Hermione said standing up from the desk they were using.

"NO!" Harry cried jumping up and grabbing her arm when she started to leave. "I don't want anyone to know. I can't have anyone know. If we tell someone then they will take your Time Turn away, and you need it."

"Harry, I don't need to take all these classes, I'm sure once we inform McGonagall why I can't use the Time Turner anymore then she will allow me to drop some classes." Hermione told Harry softly and Harry felt and heard himself growl as his other hand reached out and took hold of her other arm.

"I don't give a flying fuck about your classes, you need to keep using that damn Time Turner! Do not make my efforts of sneaking it out of his dimension, and getting it into your hands all in vain! You must save him!" Harry heard himself tell her, he watched as Hermione became frightened of him.

"S-s-save who?" Hermione asked with tears in her eyes and suddenly Harry had control of himself again. He quickly let go of Hermione and backed away from her, his eyes tearing up as he saw the bruises that his body left on her arms.

"Oh god, not again." Harry muttered as he continued backing up until he hit a wall. "I'm so sorry." He muttered as he slid down the wall and continued muttering as he curled into a ball.

"Again?" Hermione asked cautiously. "This has happened before?" Harry nodded peeking at her. "When?"

"It started in first year, it happened once or twice in second year." Harry whispered as Hermione cautiously walked over to him and knelt in front of him.

"Do you- do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head. "O-okay. I'll be here when you want to talk." The two then sat in an awkward silence.

"Please don't tell anyone." Harry begged.

"I-I won't." Hermione said and they fell back into that awkwards silence. After a minute, Harry reached out to touch one of the bruises only to have Hermione flinch.

"I'm sorry." Harry muttered pulling away before trying again. "Can I- please?" Hermione hesitated before nodding and Harry gently brushed a finger down one bruise, and Hermione watched in amazement as it faded, Harry quickly repeated the process with the other bruise. "You don't have to say here. I'll be fine. And anyway, Remus will be here shortly." Harry muttered looking away from Hermione. He closed his eyes when he heard her shift, only to open them in shock when he felt her sit right next to him. "You- you don't have to force yourself to stay with me." He told her as he tried to push away the warmth he felt over the fact she hadn't immediately left.

"What kind of a friend would I be if I left you in your time of need." Hermione said and Harry teared up.

"But I hurt you." He whispered.

"You had no control over yourself, and besides you wouldn't hurt me now that you do have control, would you?" Hermione asked and Harry quickly shook his head. "Then I see no reason to run." Harry's tears began to slip down his face, he turned and curled himself into Hermione's side and just let himself cry as he soaked up her warmth.

"Thank you." He muttered.

"There's no reason to thank me." Hermione told him.

"You saved me." Harry informed her quietly. "That day I collapse, that was after the rewind. But before the rewind, I was attacked by a black dog and slipped off the stairs. Right before I hit the ground floor from falling all the way from the top of the Gryffindor tower, you used your Time Turner and saved me." Hermione stayed silent after that, most likely from shock, but she let Harry continue to practically cuddle to her. That was how Remus found them five minutes later.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

That night Harry finally left Remus and Severus's room to join the rest of the school at the feast, but he stayed practically plastered to Remus. He had to practically force himself to keep walking towards the Great Hall the first time a student gaped in shock. It also didn't help when Professor Trelawney nearly fainted at the sight of him after she whispered in shocked that he was still alive.

And after making a fuss and throwing a tantrum like a spoiled child, Harry was allowed to sit at the Professor's table in between his fathers. Though he hated the attention he was now getting from the rest of the students, Harry still didn't want to leave their side because a voice in the back of his mind was screaming that something was going to happen. Once Severus noticed how uncomfortable Harry was at all the staring he shifted so that he was shielding Harry somewhat.

"I hear you received a delivery of a grindylow today, Remus." Severus started as Remus also shifted to shield Harry who smiled a little and picked at his food.

"A what?" Harry asked, he had never heard of a grindylow.

"A water demon." Remus told him. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the kappas. The trick is to break his grip. A grindylow has long fingers that are strong but very brittle."

"Oh." Harry muttered before taking a small bite of his food. It tasted strange, not like it was poisoned more like the taste was off, the taste made Harry began to cough.

"You alright?" Severus asked rubbing his back.

"Yeah." Harry said after his coughing fit. "Just tried to go down the wrong hole."

"Do you need a drink?" Remus asked.

"Nothing with tea leaves." Harry said causing Remus and McGonagall, who had apparently been eavesdropping, chuckle. "I don't what to chance seeing a grim in my tea leaves." Remus choked on his food causing McGonagall to gently pat his back until he motioned for her to stop after his coughing fit stopped.

"Why would you think you'll see a grim in your tea leaves?" Remus asked once he had caught his breath.

"Because that what I always see in my tea leaves." Harry told him innocently.

"Well then, let's keep you away from tea leaves." Severus said and Remus nodded as they shared a look. Harry also nodded as he went back to picking at his food.

"Beware the dog." Harry muttered without his knowledge just loud enough for both Remus and Severus to hear, once again causing Remus to choke, but this time on his drink.

"Dear lord, Professor Lupin, do I need to help you eat?" McGonagall asked as she once again began to gently pat his back.

"No, Minerva, I'm sorry for worrying you. I shall remember to start chewing my food, I'm not a wild animal." Remus joked and McGonagall narrowed her eyes at him.

"I would certainly hope not." She said before turning back to her conversation with Dumbledore.

"What did you say?" Remus asked Harry quietly.

"I didn't say anything." Harry said and watched Remus and Severus share a look and got scared that his body may have said something without his knowledge. "Did I?" Harry asked.

"I probably-" Remus started but was cut off by Severus.

"You told us to beware the dog?" Severus said while giving Remus a reprimanding look, Remus looked down ashamed. Harry's mind flashed back to the dog that had attacked him, he tensed up and just stared at his plate of food.

"Why would I tell you that? There's no dog. Why would there be a dog? Who told you there was a dog?" Harry said nervously.

"Harry, is there something you want to tell us." Remus asked slowly.

"No." Harry said quickly refusing to look at anything but his plate. "I don't want to talk about it. There's nothing to talk about. Why do you think there's anything to talk about." Every plate in the Great Hall began to quiver and quake. "THERE'S NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT!" The silverware began to float as the light began to flicker causing the students to scream, some got up and tried run from the Great Hall but Harry's magic slammed the doors shut before they could leave.

"Beware the dog. He is roaming the castle, searching. The Dementors will not find him, he will escape with the help of three students." Harry heard himself say as his magic was released causing his hair to float around him. "The Fat Lady has been attacked and fled her painting." Dumbledore rose from his seat and ordered Nearly Headless Nick to go check on the Fat Lady.

"To the one who holds time in their hands, to save what would be lost, three ticks will be all that is needed." Harry said just as Nearly Headless Nick flew back into the room in a hurry dragging a chucking Peeves with him just as Harry's magic flew back into him and he sagged against Remus.

"Young Potter is right, the Fat Lady has been attacked and has fled her painting." Nearly Headless Nick informed causing the students to panic.

"Silence!" Dumbledore ordered.

"Peeves claims to have seen what happened." Nearly Headless Nick said.

"You'll be lucky!" Peeves said cackling.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore. Instead he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful." He said happily. "Poor thing." He added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Oh yes, Professorhead." Peeves said with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinded at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black." The Students began to panic even more so than they were and Dumbledore had a hard time calming them. Once Dumbledore got them calm enough for them to not only hear him, the listen to him, he began to give orders.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle." Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick made their way towards the Great Hall doors and made sure they were sealed. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge." He added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."

"Don't worry, Harry, me and your father will be back." Remus said setting Harry gently in his chair. Dumbledore and the army of teachers began to leave the Great Hall when Dumbledore paused.

"Oh, yes, you'll be needing…" One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls, forcing everyone who was sitting to stand; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags. "Sleep well." Dumbledore said closing the door behind him. Every student turned in unison to look at Harry who was standing alone at the head of the Great Hall. Everyone stayed like that for a few seconds before they bolted towards Harry who screamed and allowed his magic to form a barrier between him and the rest of the student body.

"How did you know about the Fat Lady?!"

"Everyone setle down!"

"Can you see the future!?"

"Leave him alone!"

"Stop pushing!"

"Tell me my future!"

"Get out of my way before I make you!"

"Are you working with Black!"

"Harry!"

As everyone screamed, yelled, and tried to shove their way closer to him, Harry backed up as far as he could while covering his ears. Once he hit a wall he crumpled into a ball and tried to make himself as small as possible.

"Leave me alone." Harry muttered as he began to cry. "Don't notice me. I don't want to be noticed. I'm invisible. You can't see me." He heard the whole student body gasp. "You can't notice me. I'm hidden. I don't want to be seen." The noise started to fade. "I'm not here. I'm not here. I'm not here." Harry felt a squeezing sensation as if he was going through a tube for a few seconds before hearing a small 'Pop' and feeling something soft underneath him. He peeked out and was shocked to find himself in Remus and Severus's room curled up on their bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight- Grim Defeat**

The minutes after Harry had disappeared with a loud crack was chaos, no one knew what had happened, why Harry has started to become see through before disappearing all together, no one knew what to do. But then Hermione, Myari, and Draco stepped up.

"Shut up!" Draco yelled, his eyes flashing dangerously causing everyone to stop yelling and panicking. "Panicking isn't going to solve anything!"

"Draco is right." Hermione said glaring at everyone.

"What do we do?" Someone asked, "We can't leave to tell the teachers! Black could get us!"

"Well first off, we send one of the ghosts as Dumbledore told us to do." Myari said rolling her eyes before turning to a group of ghost that were just watching them waiting for orders. "Right, you," She said pointing to a random ghost, "we need you to quickly find a teacher; preferably either Snape, Lupin, McGonagall or Flitwick; and tell them them that Harry's wild magic caused him to Apparate away. Tell them that he is somewhere in the castle, alone and scared." The ghost nodded before hurring away.

"And for the rest of us," Hermione took over from there, "I am sad to say that there is nothing else for us to do but wait."

"Granger is correct. We all will wait here for news. And we will do so without causing a panic and hurting each other." Draco told them.

"With that said, everyone grab a sleeping bag, find a nice comfy spot on the ground, and sit your butts down." Myari ordered and everyone looked at her with blank looks. Myari crossed her arms and glared at them. "Well?" That got them moving, everyone quickly got a sleeping bag and got into their groups, once she was sure the students weren't going to leave their groups for the night, she picked up a sleeping bag then headed to a corner with Draco, Hermione, and Haiden following her. "That's how you get people to settle down." She told Percy as they passed him causing Draco to chuckle and Percy to glare at her.

"I was about to do that." He called to them angrily.

"Sure you were, Weasley." Draco called back as they got to a corner as Fred and George met up with them.

"Nice move in getting everyone calm." Fred said as they all laid their sleeping bags in a circle.

"Thanks." Hermione muttered. "I just wish there was more we could do about Harry." Haiden gently wrapped his arm around her comforting her as best as he could.

"The only other thing we could have done was leave and try to find him ourselves. But with Black on the loose in the castle we would be putting ourselves in more danger than Harry would. At least with Harry's wild magic, he would be more protected than us." Myari told them.

"The question I think everyone wants to know: How did he get in?" George asked this sparked a wildfire of suggestions of how Black could have gotten in from the students.

"Maybe he knows how to Apparate." An older Ravenclaw a few feet away suggested to her friends. "Just appear out of thin air, you know."

"Disguised himself, probably." A Hufflepuff fifth year said.

"He could've flown in." Dean Thomas suggested.

"Honestly, am I the only one who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts, A History?" Hermione muttered crossly.

"No." Both Draco and Myari answered her.

"Why?" Haiden asked.

"Because the castle's protected by more than walls, you know." Hermione started.

"There are all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. A normal wizard or witch can't just Apparate in here." Draco added.

"And I'd love to see the disguise that could fool those Dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the ground. They'd have seen him fly in too." Myari continued.

"And Filch knows all the secrets passages, they'll have them covered…" Fred and George muttered.

"Wait, you said that no one could Apparate in the castle, but Harry just did." Haiden said and Ron smirked at Draco.

"If you would listen and pay attention, Potter, you would remember that I said no normal wizard or witch. Harry's not normal. He's way too powerful to be considered normal. His wild magic cut through the barrier stopping Apparitions just enough to let him Apparate." Draco informed Haiden and Ron rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Percy.

"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking." Haiden watched Draco roll his eyes before flopping down onto his sleeping bag and glared up at the night sky, his fist clenched under his head. Haiden had a feeling he knew what was bothering Draco.

"I'm worried about him too." Haiden muttered to Draco as he slipped into his sleeping bag next to Hermione who smiled at him and took hold of his hand once he had settled. The candles all went out at once. The only light now came from the silvery ghosts, who were drifting about talking seriously to the prefects, and the enchanted ceiling, which, like the sky outside, was scattered with stars. What with that, and the whispering that still filled the hall, Haiden and the rest of his unusual gang felt like they were sleeping outdoors in a light wind.

And as everyone began to settle down, Severus came in carrying a scared Harry. This caused everyone to shoot up in their sleeping bags and open their mouths to all speak at once. "The first person to speak will have detention with me for the rest of the year." Severus threatened glaring around the room. Everyone closed their mouths again. "Now I suggest to everyone of you to sleep." He told the students as he carried Harry over to Haiden and his group. "Don't let him out of your sights." He ordered glaring at all of them until they all nodded, even Ron. Once he was sure they would keep Harry in their sights, he sat Harry down in the middle of their circle and conjured up a sleeping bag for him. "Rest. A teacher will be here to check on you." Harry nodded before turning towards Fred and George who scooted away from each other to give him room to lay between them. Severus glared around the room once more and glanced at Harry one last time before leaving.

"It's okay, Kitten, we're here." Fred whispered to Harry who was silently crying as him and George wrapped themselves around Harry.

"You're safe now." George soothed.

"I'm not safe until he's gone." Harry told them before passing out. And as Severus said, a teacher came and checked on Harry before making sure all the other students were there and safe. And then once every hour a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet and that Harry was still there. Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Haiden watched him looking around for Percy, who had been prowling between sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. Percy was only a short way from Haiden and them. Haiden, Hermione, and Draco quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore's footsteps drew nearer.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy asked in a whisper.

"We almost had him when he-" Dumbledore started glancing at Harry before shaking his head. "No." He finished looking at at Percy. "All well here?"

"After the incident with Harry, no, sir." Percy said.

"Good." Dumbledore said nodding before looking around the room with a sigh. "There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?" Percy asked.

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the Password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her." They heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps.

"Headmaster?" It was Severus. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched…"

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" Severus asked through clenched teeth. Haiden raised his head very slightly off his arms to free his other ear.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next." Haiden opened his eyes a fraction and squinted up to where they were; Dumbledore's back was to him, but he could see Percy's face, rapt with attention, and Severus was kneeling next to Harry, Haiden could see his profile which looked angry.

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before - ah - the start of term?" Severus said barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation while also running a soothing hand through Harry's hair.

"I do, Severus." Dumbledore said with a slight warning in his voice.

"It seem - almost impossible - that Black could have entered the without inside help." Severus said.

"Surely you are not suggesting that R-" Dumbledore started but was cut off by Severus standing up and glaring at him.

"Of course not!" Severus growled out.

"Then we are in agreement, because I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it." Dumbledore said, his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Severus didn't reply. "I must go down to the Dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy asked confused.

"Oh yes." Dumbledore said coldly quickly glancing at Harry before looking back a Percy. "But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster." Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore turned to leave the hall, but paused next to Severus.

"I do apologize for allowing this to happen to Harry. I will call for his Mind Healer the second I can release the lockdown." Dumbledore muttered ot Severus.

"As much as I would love to place the blame of this on you, I am mature enough to know that you are not the cause of this. You were not the one to help break Black out of Azkaban and I surely hope you are not the one to have helped him enter the school." Severus replied. Dumbledore nodded before continuing out the hall with Severus watching him with an expression of deep resentment on his face before he left too. Haiden glanced sideways at Draco and Hermione. Both of them had their eyes open too, reflecting the starry ceiling.

"What was that all about?" Haiden mouthed.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowered shrub.

The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat grey pony. Nobody was very happy about this. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels and the rest of the time thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.

"He's a complete lunatic." Seamus Finnigan complained angrily to Percy. "Can't we get anyone else?"

"None of the other pictures wanted the job." Percy informed everyone. "Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer."

Sir Cadogan, however, was the least of Haiden's worries. Him and Harry were now being closely watched. Teachers found excuses to walk along the corridors with them, Percy Weasley (acting, Haiden suspected, on his mother's orders) was tailing Haiden everywhere like an extremely pompous guard dog. Harry had taken to never being alone, he had somehow gotten an older Hufflepuff boy; Cedric Diggory; to walk with him whenever he couldn't get anyone else. How Harry had met him and convinced him to walk with him, Haiden had no clue. All he did know what that it pissed Draco off whenever Harry would walk with Cedric, and whenever Draco was pissed off he would take his anger out on Haiden. And to cap it all off, Professor McGonagall summoned Harry into her office, with such a somber expression on her face Harry thought someone must have died.

"There's no point hiding it from you any longer. Potter." She said in a very serious voice. "I know this will come as a shock to you, but Sirius Black is after you and your brother."

"What? Why?" Haiden asked. McGonagall opened her mouth to say something but Haiden cut her off. "That night he attacked the Fat Lady, he attacked Harry as well after he Apparated from the Great Hall!"

"We believe so yes. Professor Snape and Lupin found him running down the hall in terror, handprints around his neck." She informed him and Haiden clenched his fists in anger. "After learning this, I am sure you'll understand why I don't think it's a good idea for you to be practicing Quidditch in the evenings. Out on the field with only your team members, it's very exposed, Potter-"

"We've got our first match on Saturday!" Haiden cried, outraged. "I've got to train, Professor!" McGonagall considered him intently. Haiden knew she was deeply interested in the Gryffindor team's prospects; it had been she, after all, who'd suggested him as Seeker in the first place. He waited, holding his breath.

"Hmm…" McGonagall stood up and stared out of the window at the Quidditch field, just visible through the rain. "Well… goodness knows, I'd like to see us win the Cup at last… but all the same, Potter… I'd be happier if a teacher were present. I'll ask Madam Hooch to oversee your training sessions."

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The weather worsened steadily as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. Undaunted, the Gryffindor team was training harder then ever under the eye of Madam Hooch. Then, at their final training session before Saturday's match, Oliver Wood gave his team some unwelcome news.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" He told them, looking very angry. "Flint's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"Why?" The rest of the team asked.

"Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured." Wood said grinding his teeth furiously, "But its obviously why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances…" There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Wood spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder.

"I know very well that there is nothing wrong with Draco's arm!" Haiden cried furiously. "He's faking it!"

"I know that, but we can't prove it, he's got Harry backing him." Wood said bitterly causing Haiden and the Weasley twins to share a look. "And we've been practicing all these moves assuming we were playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory-" Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled. "What?" Wood demanded, frowning at this lighthearted behavior.

"He's that tall, good-looking one that's dating Harry, isn't he?" Angelina asked.

"They're not dating!" George yelled. "Cedric is just being nice! And anyway Cedric is far to old for our Kitten, like bloody hell I would allow that!"

"Neither would I." Fred said, the twins looked at each other and had one of their silent conversations they were prone to having before nodding.

"I can definitely see why Harry would date him, he's so strong and silent." Katie said and they started giggling again.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together." Fred said impatiently. "I don't know why you're worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Haiden caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember."

"We were playing in completely different conditions!" Wood shouted, his eye bulging slightly. "Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you'd take it like this! We mustn't relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!"

"Oliver, calm down!" Fred said looking slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously."

 **~Look Me In Your Heart~**

The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. At breakfast Haiden caught Draco glaring at Cedric who was sitting next to Harry and Luna at the Ravenclaw table with Harry blushing every now and then. Haiden jumped slightly when Draco leaned on the table right next to him.

"I want you to hurt him." Draco growled out.

"What? Hurt who?" Haiden asked receiving a glare from Draco.

"Diggory." Draco told him through clenched teeth.

"Oh." Haiden said as they both went back to watching Harry interact with Cedric. As the day continued, Haiden forgot about the interaction with Draco that morning because he had no room in his head to remember anything or even worry about anything except the match tomorrow. Oliver Wood kept hurrying up to him between classes and giving him tips. The third time this happened, Wood talked for so long that Harry suddenly realized he was ten minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and set off at a run with Wood shouting after him, "Diggory's got a very fast swerve, Haiden, so you might want to try looping him-" Haiden skidded to a halt outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, pulled the door open, and dashed inside.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I-" But it wasn't Lupin who looked up at him from the teacher's desk; it was Severus.

"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down." But Haiden didn't move.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" He asked.

"He's fallen ill." Severus said through clenched teeth. "I believe I told you to sit down." Haiden stayed where he was.

"What's wrong with him?" Haiden asked.

"Just drop it and sit down!" Harry yelled shocking everyone, but that got Haiden to quickly make his way to his seat and sit. Severus looked around at the class.

"As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far-"

"Please, sir, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and grindylows," Hermione said quickly, "and we were just about to start -"

"Be quiet." Severus said coldly alerting Haiden that he was in a particularly bad mood. "I did not ask for information. As I was saying, though Lupin did not leave any written record, but he did verbally ask me to teach you about-" The class watched him flip the textbook to a marked page in the very back of chapter. "-Werewolves today." Harry's head snapped up to look at Severus with a shocked look, but he was ignored.

"But, sir," Hermione said, seemingly unable to restrain herself, "we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks-"

"Miss Granger," Severus said in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. I was not asked by Lupin to teach you about hinkypunks, but rather Werewolves. Now turn to page 394." He glanced around again. "All of you! Now!" With many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering, the class opened their books. "Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between a healthy werewolf and a true wolf?" Severus asked. Everyone sat in motionless silence; everyone except Hermione, who's hand shot straight into the air, and Harry who slammed his book shut and looked away.

"Anyone?" Severus asked ignoring Hermione as he moved to stand in front of Harry who continued to avoid looking at Severus. "Are you telling me that no one has had private lessons with Lupin about werewolves?" Everyone looked towards Harry as Hermione slowly put her hand down. Harry finally turned to look at Severus and muttered something. "What was that?"

"A werewolf has a longer snout than a true wolf, they also have golden eyes. And, a healthy werewolf is larger in size, stronger, and faster." Harry muttered loud enough for some people to hear.

"Correct. And should you find yourself where it was kill or be killed, how would you kill a werewolf?" Severus asked and Harry looked away refusing to answer, after a few minutes of silence Severus sighed as he spun around. "You all will read and take notes on werewolves." He ordered. No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. Everyone except Harry sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook while Severus prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Lupin as Harry read a book on the art of meditation and connecting with your inner beast.

When the bell rang at last, Severus held them back.

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves; and yes, Harry, you are to also write an essay. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning."

"Bite me." Harry told him causing everyone to gasp and back away from him to get out of the way of Severus's wrath.

"What was that?" Severus asked through clenched teeth.

"I said: Bite me." Harry repeated defiantly. "I'm not doing it." Haiden carefully made his way over to Draco.

"What's going on with Harry? Why is he like this?" Haiden asked.

"I don't know. He's been like this ever since his Weasley twins pulled him aside to talk to him. Nothing anyone says to him makes it better, it only pisses him off even more." Draco told Haiden before turning to glare at him. "You need to find out what they said to him so that we can fix this." With that said Draco turned and forced his way out of the room, Hermione made her way to him and grabbed Haiden's hand and led him from the room along with the rest of the students minus Harry.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's a teenage thing. Hormones. He's probably going through puberty. Once his hormones settle, he'll be back to the Harry we love." Hermione told him a few minutes before Harry came tearing out of the classroom with tears in his eyes. He bumped into Hermione hard enough to cause her to fall to the ground, Harry didn't even stop to apologize or help her.

"I hope his hormones settle soon." Haiden muttered as he helped Hermione up.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The next day Hermione was standing under the little awning just outside the doors about to walk toward the Quidditch match, but her umbrella wouldn't open. She was running late to the game, she had sent Haiden and Ron to head out before her to get them some good seats as she finished up some of her essay, but it took longer than she thought it would and now the game was about to start and her umbrella wouldn't open. She was too focused on trying to get her umbrella open that she didn't notice Harry coming up to her with his own umbrella.

"I'm sorry." Harry said startling her.

"Harry!" She cried spinning around to to look at him. "You startled me." She said with a slight laugh before she registered what he has said. "Sorry about what?"

"About yesterday," Harry told her as he motioned for her to start walking towards the field as he held his umbrella over both of them, "when I left the DADA class room, I knocked you over."

"It's alright Harry, I know you didn't do it on purpose." Hermione said as the two of them slowly made their way towards the game that, from the sounds of the cheering, had already started. "Do you want to talk about whatever was going on with you yesterday?" It took a few minutes for Harry to answer.

"They're trying to tell me what I can and can't do." Harry said.

"Who?" Hermione asked and Harry sighed in slight annoyance, but Hermione felt that it wasn't at her.

"Fred, George, Severus, and even Draco." Harry told her.

"What are they saying you can't do?" Hermione asked.

"They're saying I can't hang out with Cedric any more, that's he's to old to hang out with someone as young as me. I'm 13 and he's 16! There is only three years between us! And besides, we're only hanging out! It's not like we're dating!" Harry ranted.

"But you want to, right?" Hermione asked and Harry blushed.

"No!" Harry denied a little too quickly. "Yes." He added a few seconds later. "Maybe. I don't know." He finished and Hermione smiled at him. "I'm so confused! Cedric is so handsome and kind and mature! While Draco is-" Harry stopped himself.

"Draco is-?" Hermione probed.

"Draco is cute, and he can be kind when he wants to be, but he's not very mature." Harry told her and Hermione nodded, understanding.

"People mature faster than others." Hermione said before pulling out her Time Turner. "I have a feeling that you're maturing faster than everyone else because of the effect the Time Turner has on you." Harry went to say something when the temperature suddenly dropped, the two of them looked up to see a large group of Dementors quickly descending on them. Without thinking, Harry shoved Hermione to the group and flung himself on top of her, protecting her from the Dementors as they took turns in attacking Harry. She screamed as loud as she could while trying to think of a way to save them.

Hermione's scream seemed to trigger something inside Harry, because a second later Hermione felt and saw a wave of bright white magic explode from Harry's back, knocking the Dementors away before forming, what looked to Hermione, wings in the same silvery color that had poured out of Lupin's wand that day on the train. The wings folded around them, forming a barrier around them, keeping the Dementors from getting to them as they came back and continued to attack.

The wings stayed protecting them until either the end of the Quidditch game or until someone finally noticed what was happening, Hermione didn't know. All she knew was that a large group of teacher, with Lupin in the lead, running towards them. The group of teachers fought off the Dementors until Dumbledore was able to get there and order them away. Once Harry felt they were safe, the wings disappeared in a beautiful shimmer of lights right before Harry past out leaving Hermione to explain what had happened. They were both taken to the Hospital wing to get check over.

And as Hermione thought over the attack, she was positive that the Dementors were only after Harry seeing as they didn't even try to get to her. But why would they be after him?


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine- The Marauder's Map**

Harry didn't wake up for a week and a half, worrying everyone. Hermione, Haiden, Draco, Myari and Luna stayed with him in the Hospital Wing, Cedric had visited once but got ran off by Draco, and the twins visited but were pulled away by some teachers. Remus and Severus stopped by and sat with him whenever they had time between classes. And even Dumbledore came by a few times. When Harry finally woke up again, it was after Madame Pomfrey had sent all of his visitors away and Dumbledore had come by for a late night visit.

When Harry opened his eyes and locked eyes with Dumbledore who was looking his age sitting next to his hospital bed with his elbows resting on his knees, he didn't know what to expect. "I'm sorry." Dumbledore whispered with pain in his eyes. "You should have never been attacked by Sirius Black nor by the Dementors. I know I have no control over Black's actions, but you are my student and I should have done more to keep you safe." Harry didn't know what to do or say so he just stared at Dumbledore. "The Dementors were ordered to stay on the perimeter of the school. I apologize for not making sure they were following my orders." Harry looked away in thought.

"I do hope that one day you will be able to forgive me. And not just for this year, I have noticed that you tend to get harmed every year you attend Hogwarts, and I am partially to blame. I have allowed you to get hurt because I believed it was for the best of everyone." Dumbledore admitted catching Harry's attention, he turned to glare at Dumbledore.

"The good of everyone?" Harry repeated and Dumbledore looked ashamed.

"I allowed you to get attacked because I only saw you as a weapon used to protect Haiden. I had convinced myself that the only reason you were alive was to sacrifice yourself for Haiden." Dumbledore said.

"And now?" Harry asked and Dumbledore bowed his head in shame.

"I wish I could tell you that I saw you in a different light, but I do not." Dumbledore admitted. There was a long pause as Harry struggled to keep hold of not only his rage but his magic, he wanted to rip Dumbledore a new one, whether it be verbally or physically he didn't really care at this point.

"I think it would be in your best interest to leave my sight and never return to it." Harry growled out as his magic began to rise from his body, most likely sending out a silent alarm to Madam Pomfrey because she ran through his curtains that had been pulled around his bed in a hurry.

"What is going on here?" She demanded before she seemed to read the signs and turned to glare at Dumbledore. "You may be the Headmaster, Albus, but that does not give you the right to come here in the middle of the night and disturb the rest of my patient. If you would please leave that would be most appreciated." Dumbledore stood from his chair and started leaving but paused and looked over his shoulder at Harry.

"We will talk at a later date." He told Harry softly causing Harry's magic to lash out and swipe at Dumbledore, easily breaking the barrier he had called up. Dumbledore double in pain grabbing his left cheek as blood gushed from it.

"I told you to leave my sight and never return." Harry growled out as Madam Pomfrey ushered Dumbledore away as quick as she could. Once he was sure Dumbledore wouldn't come back, Harry rolled to his side and began to fight back the tears that threatened to come now that he was alone. "I'm not just a shield." He whispered to himself as a tear feel. "I'll find away to prove to everyone that I am not just a shield!" He promised himself. He didn't know how he would show them, but he would show them all.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

When Madam Pomfrey finally released Harry from the Hospital Wing, he left as early and as quickly as he could, not even waiting for any of his friends to come get him. He didn't want to give Dumbledore the time to get there before his friends could. Harry ran as quick as he could through secret tunnel after secret tunnel until he got to his parents' room. He uttered the password and slipped in, shocking Remus who was sitting on the sofa drinking his morning tea and grading some papers.

"Did you just get released from the Hospital Wing? You didn't walk here by yourself, did you?" Remus asked shooting up from the sofa, not even caring that half the papers he was grading had fallen to the ground. Harry didn't have to say anything for Remus to know that was exactly what Harry had done. "Oh Harry, had I known you were going to be released today I would have been there to walk you." Remus said pulling Harry into a hug. "I don't want you walking alone, not after what happened between you and Sirius." Harry took note of the fact that, so far, Remus was the only one to call Black by his first name.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to stay in the Hospital Wing any longer than I had to." Harry muttered as Remus pulled away from the hug to check over Harry.

"I understand, from what I've gathered that place is becoming your second home." Remus joked and began to lead Harry towards the sofa, seemingly satisfied with his inspection of Harry. "Are you hungry? Your father just left to get food, I'm sure if we leave now we could catch him before he gets to the Great Hall." Remus said as he magically fixed the fallen papers.

"Madam Pomfrey made me eat before I left." Harry said stiffly causing Remus to give him a side look.

"I don't know what you and Severus are fighting about," Remus started with a sigh, holding up his hand up to silence Harry when he opened his mouth, "and frankly I don't care what it is." That shocked Harry, shouldn't Remus be trying to figure out what was going on to try and fix it, that's what Hermione and Mrs. Weasley always did. "Because I know that sooner or later you two will talk to each other and figure it out. I'm not going to force you two to talk, because I know from experience with your father that if I try and force him to talk about whatever is bothering him before he is ready it will only make it worse. And I have a feeling that it would be the same with you as well. So I know, when the two of you are ready to talk to each other, you will." Remus smiled at Harry before going back to grading. The two sat in a comfortable silence as Harry pulled his legs to his chest and leaned against Remus.

"You know that spell you did on the train to get rid of the Dementor?" Harry started casually.

"The Patronus Charm? What about it?" Remus asked just as casually.

"Well, I looked it up." Harry told Remus as he began to pick at the sofa cushion.

"I've been told you tend to do that with things you tend to find interesting." Remus said with a slight smirk, as if he knew where this conversation was heading to.

"I found a book teaching me how to perform the spell." Harry muttered resting his forehead on his knees.

"I'm not surprised you did, did you try it out?" Remus asked marking a paper.

"Yeah." Harry said quietly tightening his arms around his legs.

"And?" Remus probbed.

"I was able to do it, but not until after I was in need of it, when Hermione was in trouble." Harry told him and Remus paused in grading with wide eyes as he realized what Harry had confessed. Remus turned to look at Harry who was peeking up at him. "The books I found said that the spell could only take two forms, that of an animal or that of a wisp of light. But when I did the spell to protect Hermione I got wings. I didn't even think of a happy thought or feeling, all I thought about was keeping Hermione safe." Harry said as tears began to fall from his eyes uncontrollably.

"It's alright Harry. Using that spell to protect a friend is nothing to be worried about. The condition you used the spell and how you were able to conjure it is probably what changed the form you got, a form that would be the best to protect you both." Remus explained and Harry shook his head.

"Dumbledore told me himself that I was just a shield to protect Haiden, and I'm starting to think he was right! I don't want him to be right! I don't want to be just a shield!" Harry cried turning around so that he could cling onto Remus.

"Dumbledore told you what? When?" Remus asked a slight growl to his voice as he held Harry to him tightly.

"A few nights ago, in the Hospital Wing." Harry told him, he felt Remus tighten his grip on Harry, his nails slightly sharper than normal. A second later Remus was on the other side of the room digging through the potion cupboard looking for his wolfsbane potion. Harry let him magic flow out and slam the cupboard closed just before Remus grabbed the potion. "Don't take it. It's poison to your other half. You don't need it."

"You're wrong Harry, I do need it!" Remus growled spinning around to show bright golden eyes and slightly enlarged teeth. "I will lose control of the wolf and hurt someone!"

"And if I told you I can teach you how to control the wolf?" Harry asked standing from the sofa and walked over to Remus who quickly rushed away from Harry.

"There is no way of controlling the wolf other than wolfsbane." Remus told him.

"There is, you just never thought to look for another way." Harry said and magically summoned his book on the art of meditation and connecting with your inner beast. "If I let you take the potion this time, if you truly think you need it, will you promise me you will read this book? You don't have to decide to do any of the meditations in the book if you believe it won't help, but just read the book, please." Harry begged. The two locked eyes for a long moment before Remus slowly nodded and Harry backed away from the cupboard while releasing his magic from it. Remus rushed to the cupboard and grabbed the potion, downing it as quickly as he could, and reverted back. Harry tossed the book toward Remus while giving him a disappointed look.

"You know, befriending the wolf would be a lot better than slowly killing it and in turn yourself." Harry told him before grabbing his school bag from beside the sofa, where he always left it when he stayed in his parents' room. "I think I'm going to stay with Luna for awhile." Harry said and headed towards the door. "Let me know what your decide to do." He called back before he left, ignoring Remus's call for him to stop.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Two weeks before the end of the term, the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling, opaline white and the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher and Ravenclaws Head of House, had already decorated his classroom with shimmering light that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies. The students were all happily discussing their plans for the holiday. Luna and Myari had both decided to remain at Hogwarts to keep him company even though Haiden and Hermione would be there, along with Remus and Severus. But Harry hadn't spoken to his parents outside of class.

To everyone's delight except Haiden's, there was to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of the term. Harry watched his brother wondering if he should let him borrow the map to use it to sneak into Hogsmeade. On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Harry and Haiden bid goodbye to Hermione and Draco, who were wrapped in cloaks and scarves, then turned up the marble stairs. Harry followed Haiden toward Gryffindor Tower fiddling with the map. Snow had started to fall outside the windows, and the castle was very still and quiet.

"Haiden, how badly do you want to go to Hogsmeade with the others?" Harry asked halfway along the third-floor corridor. "Would you sneak there if given the chance?"

"Why?" Haiden asked glancing over his shoulder at him.

"Just answer the question." Harry said and Haiden took a second to think about it before nodding.

"Yeah, if given the chance to sneak there without getting caught I would take it." Haiden said and Harry nodded to himself.

"I know away you can sneak to Hogsmeade, a way that not even Filch knows about." Harry said causing Haiden to stop and spin around to stare at him in shock.

"Really?" Haiden asked excitedly.

"It's on here." Harry said handing Haiden the map, he took it and looked at the plank parchment, opening it, checking both sides before looking at Harry in annoyance.

"This is just a blank piece of old parchment. If this is a joke it's not funny." Haiden said and Harry laughed lightly.

"It's not just a blank piece of old parchment, watch." Harry took out his wand and touched the parchment lightly. "I solemnly swear that I am up to know good." At once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that Harry's wand had touched. They joined each other; they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:

 _Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs  
_ _Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
_ _are proud to present  
_ **The Marauder's Map**

It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Haiden bent over it. A labeled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker's cat, Mrs Norris, was prowling the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room. Harry watched Haiden's eyes travel up and down the familiar corridors, taking notice of another feature of this map. This map also showed multiple secret passages.

"Right into Hogsmeade." Harry said tracing one of the hidden passages leading to the town with his finger. "There are seven in all. Now Filch know about these four-" He pointed them out- "but I'm sure that only me, Fred, and George know about these. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. Fred and George used it until last winter, but it's caved in- completely blocked. And I don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. I've used this a few times. And as you might've noticed, we are right next to the entrance, through that one-eyed old crone's hump." Harry said pointing to a one-eyed statue just left of the room they were standing in front of. "Right, don't forget to wipe it after you've used it, or anyone can read it. Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' And it'll go blank."

"Awesome! Let's go get my Invisibility Cloak and we'll go!" Haiden cried excitedly grabbing Harry's wrist and ran down the corridor dragging Harry with him.

"Wait, we'll go? As in both of us?" Harry asked.

"Of course, I'm not leaving you here by yourself!" Haiden told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I won't be alone, I'll be with Luna and Myari!" Harry told him.

"And miss going to a Hogsmeade weekend? Again?" Haiden reasoned.

"There will be other weekends after Black has been caught." Harry reasoned back.

"Yeah, but that's a ways away, this is here and now!" Haiden told Harry who sighed knowing that there would be no changing Haiden's mind now that he was determined to go the Hogsmeade with him.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

After getting Haiden's Invisibility Cloak, throwing it over them, and making it back to the passage and slipping into it. The two followed the twisting and turning path that was more like a burrow of a giant rabbit than anything else. After what felt like an hour, the passage began to rise. Panting, Haiden grabbed Harry's hand and sped them up. Ten minutes later, they came to the foot of some worn stone steps, which rose out of sight about them. Careful not to make a noise or loose the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, the two began to climb as one. Haiden, being the tallest of the two, hit his head on something hard as they climbed the stairs, it was the trapdoor.

As Haiden stood there messaging the top of his head, Harry was listening. He couldn't hear any sounds about them. Very slowly, Harry used his magic to push the trapdoor opened before standing on his tiptoes to peer over the edge. They had made it to Honeydukes cellar, which was full of wooden crates and boxes. With some trouble, the two of them climbed out of the trapdoor together trying to keep the Invisibility Cloak on them before Harry replaced the trapdoor. It blended so perfectly with the dusty floor that it was almost impossible to tell it was there. The two of them crept slowly toward the wooden staircase that lead upstairs. Harry and Haiden were definitely able to hear voices, not to mention the tinkle of a bell and the opening and shutting of a door

As Haiden was about to opened the door, they heard a door open much closer at hand; someone was about to come downstairs.

"And get another box of Jelly Slugs, dear, they've nearly cleaned us out-" A woman called. A pair of feet was coming down the stairs. Harry grabbed Haiden and pulled them behind an enormous crate and waited for the footsteps to pass. They heard the man shifting boxes against the opposite wall. They might not get another chance-

Quickly and silently, Harry pulled Haiden out of the hiding place and climbed the stairs; looking back, he saw an enormous backside and shiny bald head, buried in a box. They reached the door at the top of the stairs, slipped through it, and found themselves behind the counter of Honeydukes. This was the farthest Harry had ever gotten into Hogsmeade, he usually never left the cellar. Haiden lead them to the other side of the counter before pulling of the Invisibility Cloak. Honeydukes was so crowded with Hogwarts students that no one looked twice at Harry or Haiden just suddenly appearing. The twins edged among them, looking around.

There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, the levitating sherbet balls that Harry had overheard Ron mention once. Along yet another wall were "Special Effects" sweets: Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ("breath fire for your friends!"), Ice Mice ("hear your teach chatter and squeak!"), peppermint creams shaped like toads ("hop realistically in the stomach!"), fragile sugar-spin quills, and exploding bonbons.

The twins squeezed themselves through the crowd of sixth years and saw a sign hanging in the farthest corner of the shop (Unusual Tastes). Hermione, Draco, and even Ron were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavored lollipops. They snuck up behind them.

"It was so much easier to find Haiden something, why is it so much harder to find Harry something?" Hermione asked putting back a Lollipop.

"Because Harry has a very difficult palate." Draco said looking through the selection, "And honestly I don't know what he would like, what I think he would like, he doesn't, and what I think he won't like, he does!"

"How about these?" Ron said holding a jar of Cockroach Clusters with a smirk.

"Sure." Harry said, Ron nearly dropped the jar in shock.

"Harry! Haiden!" Hermione squealed hugging Haiden as Draco wrapped his arm around Harry's waist. "What are you doing here? How - how did you-?"

"Did you Apparate here?" Ron asked receiving multiple annoyed looks.

"Yes, and I did it like this." Harry said before slapping the back of his head. "Idiot." He muttered before dropping his voice so that none of the sixth years could hear him and told them all about the Marauder's Map.

"How come Fred and George gave it to you?!" Ron asked outraged. "I'm their brother! And you're just the stray they picked up!"

"I guess that just means they wish I was their brother and you were just the stray no one wants." Harry told him with a smile.

"Harry isn't going to keep it!" Hermione said as though the idea was ludicrous. "He's going to hand it in to either Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick, aren't you, Harry?"

"What are you Ron?" Harry said causing Draco to laugh. "Of course I'm not!"

"Are you mad?" Haiden said goggling at Hermione. "Hand in something that good?"

"If I hand it in, I'll have to say where I got it! Filch would know Fred and George had nicked it!" Harry told her.

"But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!"

"He can't be getting in through a passage." Haiden said quickly. "There are seven secret tunnels on the map, right? Harry, Fred, and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. And the other three- one of them's caved in, so no one can get through it. One of them's got the Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it. And the one we just came through - well - it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in the cellar, so unless he knew it was there…" Harry stopped Haiden at that. What if Black did know about the passages? Looking back now, he could swear that Black, as a dog before he had transformed and attacked him, had run from one of the secret tunnels. Ron, however, cleared his throat significantly, and pointed to a notice pasted on the inside of the sweetshop door.

 **-BY ORDER OF-**

 **The Ministry of Magic**

 _Customers are reminded that until further notice,  
_ _Dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade  
_ _every night after sundown. This measure has been put  
_ _in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will  
_ _be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore  
_ _advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall.  
_ _Merry Christmas!_

"See?" Ron said smugly. "I'd like to see Black try and bread into Honeydukes with Dementors swarming all over the village. Anyway, Hermione, the Honeydukes owners would hear a break-in, wouldn't they? They live over the shop!"

"Yes, but - but -" Hermione seemed to be struggling to find another problem. "Look, Harry and Haiden shouldn't be coming into Hogsmeade. They haven't got a signed form! If anyone finds out, they'll be in so much trouble! And it's not nightfall yet- what if Sirius Black turns up today? Now?"

"Granger, your stretching and you know it." Draco said shaking his head. "I admit, they shouldn't be here without a signed form, buy they're here now so there is no point in sending them back. Plus you and I both know that Black would have a hard time spotting either Harry or Haiden in this." He motioned through the mullioned windows at thick, swirling snow. "Come on, Granger, it's Christmas. Don't you think both Harry and Haiden deserve a break?" Hermione bit her lip, looking extremely worried.

"Are you going to report us?" Harry asked using his puppy dog eyes on her, smirking when she sighed.

"Oh - of course not- but honestly, you two-" Hermione said shaking her head.

"Seen the Fizzing Whizbees, Haiden?" Ron asked, grabbing Haiden and leading him over to their barrel. Harry grabbed a few handfuls of the lollipops and Draco gave Hermione a 'you see' look. After they paid for all their sweets, the five of them left Honeydukes for the blizzard outside.

Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees. When they all began to shiver despite their thick cloak, that Harry was thankful he remembered to grab for him and Haiden, Harry cupped his hands in front of his mouth, gathered a little of his magic and blew into his cupped hands sending a wave of warm magic around them.

"You have got to teach me that." Haiden said.

"I don't think you want to learn this spell." Harry said looking away.

"Why, because he's not magically strong like you?" Ron asked.

"No, because it's considered Dark Magic! If you don't do it right, you could potentially set yourself or someone else on fire!" Harry informed them causing Hermione to gasp.

"Oh, and I guess the Malfoys taught you that spell?" Ron asked.

"No." Harry said before Draco could do or say anything. "This is true Dark Magic, magic that was long forgotten and used in the time of Merlin when Dark Magic was the everyday magic because there was no label of Dark or Light Magic. We only just recently started to label magic as Dark, Light, and Neutral. But there is so much more to it." Harry explained noticing that both Draco and Hermione were hanging onto his every word as if they were in class, this made Harry blush.

"Wow, that's incredible, Harry!" Hermione gushed causing him to blush even more.

"Where did you learn that?" Draco asked.

"From a few books I stumbled upon." Harry muttered.

"Can I borrow them?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head.

"Oh, so you're the only one who can read those books? Have to be the only know-it-all in the group?" Ron asked.

"Because I haven't finished translating them, Ron. But by all means, if you know how to read Ancient Latin, Ancient Greek, Old English, and Parselmouth, I'll let you borrow them and you can read them to your hearts content." Harry offered causing Ron to go red in face from either anger or embarrassment, maybe both.

"You know Ancient Latin, Ancient Greek and Old English?" Haiden asked.

"Some of mine and Hermione's classes are covering them." Harry told them.

"When do have the time to translate them?" Draco asked confused.

"Thanks to Hermione's help, I've found a ton of free time to translate them when I'm not finding myself in the Hospital Wing or attacked." Harry said sharing a look with Hermione.

"Anyone up for a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks?" Hermione asked and everyone agreed. It was extremely crowded, noisy, warm, and smokey; Harry dropped the spell around them. A curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar.

"That's Madam Rosmerta." Ron said. "I'll get the drinks, shall I?" He added, going slightly red.

"I'm the closest to her." Harry said, and he was, Ron was the furthest away from her. Ron glared at him as he was forced to walk towards the only open table by the others as Harry easily slipped through the crowd to the bar with his small figure. "Hello." He called getting Madam Rosmerta's attention.

"Well hello there, cutie. What can I get for you?" Madame Rosmerta asked.

"Five butterbeers, please." Harry said and Madame Rosmerta began to make them while chatting with him.

"You look a bit young to be out in Hogsmeade. Sneak out to look cool for the other first years?" She asked with a small smirk. "It's alright, I won't report you." She added with a wink.

"I'm actually a third year, ma'am." Harry said politely.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry, you just look so small and young!" Madame Rosmerta gasped setting the last butterbeer on the counter. Harry looked down at his body, he knew he was small for his age, but he didn't know he looked like a first year! "I didn't mean to offend you!" She claimed.

"I - no, you didn't offend me, I just never realized how small and young I looked." Harry said sadly, maybe this was the reason everyone kept treating him like a little kid, why they didn't want him hanging with Cedric. His eyes started tearing up. "Do I really look that much like a first year?" He asked her.

"Those big, doe like eyes ain't help ya, kid." A warlock grunted.

"Neither are them tears." Another said and Harry furiously wiped at his eyes.

"That's just making him look cuter." He heard one whisper to the other.

"Harry?" Someone called out to him, he turned and found Cedric behind him with a worried look. "Is everything alright?"

"I - no - I mean - yeah - well - sorry!" Harry stuttered out before quickly paying for the butterbeers, snapping at them causing them to levitated, before running into the crowd towards his group with the butterbeers flying behind him. As he was making his way to his group, the doors to the Three Broomsticks opened and in walked Professor McGonagall and Flitwick with a flurry of snowflakes, followed shortly by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with a portly man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstripe cloak - Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. And Harry was right in front of them. He quickly spun around, hoping they hadn't seen him.

"Harry?" He heard Flitwick asked and panicked before quickly gathering his magic in his hands and ran them down his face just before McGonagall took hold of his shoulder and spun him back around to face her.

"Now see here young man-" She stopped when she noticed his face, "Oh I do apologize, Mr. Longbottom, but for a second there I could have sworn you looked just like Harry." Harry gathered his magic to his vocal cord.

"It happens more often than one would think." He said in Neville's voice.

"Are those butterbeers floating behind you for you?" Flitwick asked, a knowing look in his eyes. He had totally forgotten about them!

"I - uh - I was just - um - practicing a spell Harry showed me?" Harry said uncertainty.

"Oh, well, how thoughtful of him." Flitwick said. "Well, we'll let you return to your friends, Harry." Harry closed his eyes letting his disguise drop, knowing he was caught. "Please come to my office once you've returned." Flitwick said.

"Yes, sir." Harry said in his own voice.

"Though I do applaud you on your very creative and excellent use of both that Transfiguration spell and voice modifying charm." Flitwick said patting his back.

"Thank you, sir." Harry said and Flitwick motioned for him to continue to his friends, which he did, passing by a very confused Neville as he did so.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten- The Firebolt**

Harry sat in Professor Flitwick's office as he slowly flicked through a book glancing at him with a smirk every time Harry began to fidget. He had been sitting in this office for a little over twenty minutes and Professor Flitwick had not said a single thing besides telling him to take a seat. "If this is a tactic to get me to think about what I have done and why it was dangerous, then it is working." Harry told Flitwick who smirked.

"Would you mind telling me why it was dangerous?" Flitwick asked.

"It was dangerous not just because there I could have been attacked by Sirius Black, a man that has already attacked me in the safety of the School, and had my friends in danger of also being hurt, but had something happened to me, like being attacked or even kidnapped when I was away from my group or even on my way to Hogsmeade, none of you would have known because I was supposed to be in the castle." Harry told Flitwick who was watching him with hard eyes.

"Correct. Any more reasons?" Flitwick asked and Harry nodded.

"And when you had figured out I was gone, it would have been too late." Harry muttered.

"Once again, correct." Flitwick said leaning back in his chair watching Harry. "Now, let's go for three. What punishment would you suggest I give to you?" he ask and Harry took a few minutes to think.

"I would suggest two or three months detention starting the first of the new term, and to write a five foot long essay on the dangers of…. Um…." He paused to try and come up with the right wording but was having trouble. "The, uh, dangers of-"

"Why you should have never left the castle without permission." Flitwick said taking pity on Harry. "And yes, that would be a very suffice punishment, had this not been your first offense and you hadn't realized the danger you had put yourself in." Harry looked hopeful that he would get out of there without punishment. "But you're not leaving without punishment." Flitwick said as if reading his mind, causing Harry to deflate. "Now, this is the part of our meeting where I ask you if you had any accomplices and you lie and say 'no' and I try and persuade you into telling me who helped you, and you swear it was all your idea and the only one. But we're not going to do that, we're just going to skip all the way to your punishment. I want you to write me two two and a half foot essays on the transfiguration spell and the voice modifying spell you used. I want them on the first day of the new term. You will also be receiving two weeks detention with Professor Lupin." Flitwick told him.

"Yes sir." Harry said dejectedly. Flitwick stared at Harry as if contemplating asking him something.

"I won't ask what is going on with you and your fathers, but just know that I will listen whenever you need to talk." Flitwick told him and Harry looked away, he didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't ready to admit to anyone but himself that he was acting childish. "You're free to go." Harry silently got up and walked out of the office to find Remus leaning against the wall across from the office, waiting for him.

"We need to have a talk." Remus told him with a guarded tone that had Harry worrying. Remus kicked off the wall and motioned for Harry to follow him. The two walked down the hallway towards Remus's office in tense silence. Once at the office, Remus unlocked the door and held it open for Harry to walk through, following him in. "Sit." Remus ordered and Harry did so. Harry wanted to ask what this was about but was actually afraid to.

"First off, I want to say that sneaking into Hogsmeade the way you did was down right stupid, dangerous, foolish, and quite a few other words that I will not say, but I'm sure you can figure out what they are. I expected more from you, Harry. If you had wanted to go to Hogsmeade that badly you could have come to either me or your father, we would have worked something out with Flitwick and McGonagall. You didn't have to risk your life to go to Hogsmeade!" Remus told him angrily causing Harry to tear up. "I know you have the map. I know you used one of the multiple tunnels leading to and from Hogwarts."

"You know about the map? How?" Harry asked in shock.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. I'm Moony." Remus told Harry shocking him even more. "Your birth father, one of my best friends, is-was Prongs. And Sirius is Padfoot." Harry gasped at that.

"So Sirius knows about the map?" Harry asked.

"He doesn't need the map, Sirius knows these tunnels by heart. Him and James used to practically live in those tunnels, just like your Weasley Twins." Remus told Harry as his brain started to form a picture out of all everything Remus was telling him and the clues he had picked up along the way.

"So, you, Sirius and James are-were best friends when you were in Hogwarts. The three of you plus Wormtail made the map. Who is Wormtail?" Harry asked.

"A boy we used to hang out with named Peter Pettigrew." Remus told him and Harry let his mind work while also trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar.

"Why was Sirius in Azkaban? And if he is James's best friend, why is he trying to kill me?" Harry asked.

"Why Sirius was put in Azkaban is a complicated story. I'll tell it to you if you're sure you want to hear it." Remus said and Harry nodded. "Alright. It starts a little over 13 years ago, when Lily found out she was pregnant, at the time we didn't know she was going to be having twins. Severus had learned about Voldemort planning to attack James and Lily, he warned them and they went into hiding. After Lily had given birth to you and your brother, Dumbledore talked them into using the Fidelius Charm and using Sirius as the Secret Keeper. And not even a week later, Lily and James were killed, and you and your brother were rescued from the burning building by Hagrid. The next day Petter hunts down Sirius who killed him. Blew him up in front of a crowd of Muggles, where he was then caught and thrown into Azkaban without a trial." Harry opened his mouth to ask a question, but Remus held up his hand, silencing him.

"That's what everyone knows," Remus continued, "but there is something that only me, Sirius, James, Lily and Peter knows: Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper. The day after we had made Sirius into the Secret Keeper, we all sat down and talked about it. And we came up that Sirius and me were the obvious choices for being the Secret Keeper, so we went the less obvious, we called Peter over and switched the Secret Keeper from Sirius to him."

"Why didn't Sirius have a trial, if he had then it would have come out that he hadn't been the Secret Keeper. Hadn't betrayed Lily and James!" Harry said.

"Yes, I fought to try and get him a trial, but because of what I am, no one took me serious. They wouldn't even give me the time of day. I tried to convince Dumbledore to use his status to get Sirius a trial, but denied me, telling me that my friendship and the fact that we had dated in our third year, my judgment of Sirius was clouded." Remus told him.

"You dated Sirius?" Harry asked.

"A long time ago, before I accepted my feelings for your father." Remus told him, Harry filed that information away for a later date.

"But even if you had gotten him a trial, Sirius would still have been thrown into Azkaban for killing Peter." Harry said.

"True, but he wouldn't have been labeled a traitor." Remus said and the two fell into a silence while Harry mentally went over everything they had talked about, when he suddenly remembered why Peter's name sounded familiar.

"Going back to the map," Harry started, "you helped create it, right?"

"Yes, I actually created the charm for it, but the map itself was James and Sirius's idea." Remus informed him.

"So you would be able to know if someone could easily change the charm for it, right?" Harry asked.

"It's a very complicated charm, it's not just one charm. There are hundreds of different charms and spells weaved in and out of each other surrounded by all of the strongest locking and protection spells I could correctly weave in." Remus told him slightly defensive, and Harry could understand why, from the sound of it this map was Remus's baby.

"So, no one could easily crack into it and make it say something that isn't true?" Harry asked.

"The map never lies, Harry." Remus told Harry firmly.

"Then Peter's not dead." Harry told Remus, shocking him.

"What?" Remus asked.

"For a while now, at night I would see Peter's name wandering around the castle. But he mainly hangs around Ron. I've even seen Loki and even Crookshanks chasing him." Harry told him and Remus shook his head.

"That's not possible." Remus denied.

"You're the one that told me that the map never lies, and I'm just telling you what I have seen multiple times on the map." Harry said.

"Who has the map now?" Remus asked urgently.

"Haiden." Harry said.

"He doesn't know about Sirius and Peter, does he?" Remus asked and Harry shook his head. "Let us keep it that way. I have a feeling that if he knew, he would go searching for either Sirius or Peter. And though Sirius may be an innocent man, 12 years in Azkaban can change anyone. As shown by him attacking and trying to kill you. And he may be my friend, but if he hurts you again in anyway, I won't be responsible for my actions."

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The next day, the start of their Christmas break, Harry, Luna and Myari met up with Hermione and Haiden at the main doors. All of them bundled up and ready for an adventure outside. And totally unplanned. "So what adventure are you two having?" Luna asked hanging off of Harry's arm.

"We thought we'd go visit Hagrid, it's been a while since we've visited him outside of class." Hermione said.

"Mind if we join you?" Harry asked and Myari glared at him.

"What happened to playing in the snow? To building igloos and snowmen, and having a snowball fight?" Myari asked stomping her foot and crossing her arms.

"It's the first day of Christmas break, there will be plenty of time for us to do all of that and more." Harry told her, Myari huffed and looked away.

"You say that now." She muttered childishly while pouting. Luna let go of Harry's arm and pulled Myari into a hug, causing her to blush.

"Now now, I'll make sure we will have time to play in the snow." Luna promised.

"Fine." Myari said as Luna let her go to take hold of her hand.

"Now that that's all settled, let's go." Harry said only to be nearly knocked over by Ron who rushed up to them while hurriedly putting on his cloak and scarf.

"Right, sorry I'm late, I couldn't find Scabbers for a minute, but I found him hiding under your bed, Haiden." Ron said stepping in between Harry and the others. "But I'm here and ready to go visit Hagrid." The group started to make their way slowly down the lawn, making a shallow trench in the glittering, powdery snow, their socks and the hems of their cloaks soaked and freezing. They were almost to Hagrid's hut that looked like an iced cake and sat just outside the Forbidden Forest that looked as though it had been enchanted, each tree smattered with silver, when Ron seemed to realize that Harry and his group was with them and stopped.

"Who invited you along?" Ron asked turning to glare at Harry.

"I did." Harry told him.

"Well, uninvite yourself, no one wants you here." Ron said.

"Actually Ron, you're the only one who doesn't want me here. And you've seemed to have mistaken me for someone who gives a damn what you want." Harry said before walking past Ron.

"I'm sure Madam Pomfrey has some burn heal for you to use." He heard Myari tell Ron. They made it to Hagrid's hut without anymore interruptions and Harry knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

"He's not out, is he?" Hermione asked as she shivered under her cloak. Haiden put his ear to the door.

"There's a weird noise." He alerted everyone. "Listen, is that Fang?" Harry and Hermione put their ears to the door too. From inside the cabin came a series of low, throbbing moans.

"Think we'd better go and get someone?" Ron asked nervously.

"Hagrid!" Harry called pounding on the door. "Hagrid, I know you're in there. You have the count of three to open this door before I blast it open!" There was a sound of heavy footsteps, then the door creaked open. Hagrid stood there with his eyes red and swollen, tears splashing down the front of his leather vest.

"Yeh've heard?" He bellowed and flung himself onto Harry's neck. Hagrid being at least twice the size of a normal man, this was no laughing matter. And instead of using his magic to push the half giant off him like he wanted to, Harry used his magic to help him hold up the man's weight while leading him back into the cabin. Hagrid allowed himself to be steered into a chair and slumped over the table, sobbing uncontrollably, his face glazed with tears that dripped down into his tangled beard. Once Hagrid was settled, Harry backed away, slightly hiding behind Haiden, and wiped his cloak of tears.

"Hagrid, what is it?" Hermione asked.

"What is this, Hagrid?" Haiden asked pointing to an official-looking letter lying open on the table. Hagrid's sobs redoubled, but he shoved the letter towards Haiden who picked it up and read aloud:

 _Dear Mr. Hagrid,_

 _Further to our inquiry into the attack by a hippogriff on a_  
 _student in your class, we have accepted the assurance of  
_ _Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the  
_ _regrettable incident._

"Well, that's okay then, Hagrid!" Ron said clapping Hagrid on the shoulder. But Hagrid continued to sob, and waved one of his gigantic hands, inviting Haiden to read on.

 _However, we must register our concern about the hippogriff  
_ _in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint  
_ _of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will therefore be taken  
_ _to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.  
_ _The hearing will take place on April 20th, and we ask you to  
_ _present yourself and your hippogriff at the Committee's offices  
_ _in London on that date. In the meantime, the hippogriff  
_ _should be kept tethered and isolated._

 _Yours in fellowship…_

There followed a list of the school governors. Everyone turned to look at Harry who raised an eyebrow at them. "Don't look at me, I have no control over this. I tried to talk Draco out of telling his father, but you see how well that went. What do you expect me to do?" Harry asked.

"Can't you go to Mr. Malfoy and try to talk him out of following through with his complaint?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, sure, I'll just leave school after getting in trouble for that same reason, to talk to Lucius. What could go wrong?" Harry said sarcastically.

"It was just a thought." Hermione muttered and Harry sighed.

"I'll write to him and see what I can do. But I don't promise anything." Harry muttered and Hermione smiled at him. "Don't get your hopes up. And anyway, I may not like the overgrown chicken, but even I can say that Buckbeak isn't bad. He might be let off-"

"Yeh don' know them gargoyle at the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures!" Hagrid choked out, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "They've got it in fer interestin' creatures!" A sudden sound from the corner of Hagrid's cabin made everyone whip around. Buckbeak the hippogriff was lying in the corner, chomping on something that was oozing blood all over the floor. "I couldn' leave him tied up out there in the snow!" Hagrid said. "All on his own! At Christmas." They all glanced at each other, as Harry back away from the hippogriff, putting Myari and Ron in between him and the hippogriff. Harry didn't agree with what Hagrid called 'interesting creatures', he would call them 'terrifying monsters.' On the other hand, there didn't seem to be any particular harm in Buckbeak. In fact, by Hagrid's usual standards, he was positively cute, when he wasn't trying to get Harry to ride him.

"You'll have to put up a good strong defense, Hagrid." Hermione said sitting down and laying a hand on Hagrid's massive forearm. "I'm sure you can prove Buckbeak is safe."

"Won't make no diff'rence!" Hagrid sobbed. "Them Disposal devils, they're all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket! Scared o' him! An' if I lose the case, Buckbeak-" Hagrid drew his finger swiftly across his throat, then gave a great wail and lurched forward, his face in his arms.

"What about Dumbledore, Hagrid?" Haiden asked.

"He's done more'n enough fer me already." Hagrid groaned. "Got enough on his plate what with keepin' them dementors outta the castle an' away from 'Arry, an' Sirius Black lurkin' around-" Harry glanced at Haiden to gage his reaction to Sirius's name, but he didn't seem phased by it.

"Listen, Hagrid," Harry said, "you can't give up. Hermione's right, you just need a good defense. I'll write to Lucius and see what I can do."

"You can call us as witnesses-" Haiden started.

"I'm sure I've read about a case of hippogriff-baiting," Hermione said thoughtfully, "where the hippogriff got of. I'll look it up for you, Hagrid, and see exactly what happened." Hagrid howled still more loudly. Haiden and Hermione looked at Ron to help them while Harry looked to Luna and Myari.

"Er- shall I make a cup of tea?" Ron asked as Myari shot forward and wacked Hagrid on the back of his large head.

"Stop this blubbering! You want to save Buckbeak, yes?" Myari asked and Hagrid nodded. "Well sitting here crying over what will happen to Buckbeak isn't going to help you save him! Do you know what will?" Hagrid shook his head. "For you to stop crying and start trying to make a plan to fight back!"

"But what if I lose?" Hagrid asked wiping his running nose.

"Don't think about that, don't even think about if you win. You need to make with keeping Buckbeak alive. As my mum always says: 'Plan for the worst, but hope for the best.'" Myari told him.

"Yer right. I can' afford to go ter pieces. Gotta pull meself together…" Hagrid said after he blew his nose. Fang the boarhound came timidly out from under the table and laid his head on Hagrid's knee. "I've not bin meself lately." Hagrid admitted stroking Fang with one hand and mopping his face with the other. "Worried abou' Buckbeak, an' no one likin' me class-"

"We do like them!" Hermione lied at once.

"Yeah, they're great!" Haiden said as Ron handed Hagrid a cup of tea.

"Er- how are the flobberworms?" Ron asked,

"Dead." Hagrid said gloomily. "Too much lettuce.:

"Oh no!" Ron said trying to hide a smile.

"An' them dementors make me feel ruddy terrible an' all." Hagrid said with a shudder. "Gotta walk past 'em ev'ry time I want a drink in the Three Broomsticks. 'S like bein' in Azkaban-"

"Wait, you were in Azkaban? What could you have possibly done to get thrown in Azkaban?" Harry asked and received looks from everyone.

"Last year." Hermione said. "Everyone heard about it. He had been accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione probed hoping to spark the memory.

"Oh, right. I think I remember hearing about it." Harry said as a hazy memory of hearing about it from Draco. "You two were stupid enough to actually follow the spiders." Harry said giving Haiden an annoyed look.

"How could you have forgotten about that?" Ron asked. "Do you not care about Hagrid at all."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for being in St. Mungos at that time because my mind had been attacked and I had a mental shut down." Harry said glaring at Ron who rolled his eyes. "Keep rolling your eyes, perhaps you'll find a brain back there."

"What did you say?" Ron asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I use too many big words? Let me say it in words you might be able to understand." Harry paused to clear his throat before slowly saying: "You are an idiot."

"Are you going to just let him talk to me like this?" Ron asked glaring at Haiden, but Harry stepped in between them before Haiden could do anything.

"Yes he is, and do you know why? Because I had to suffer almost two years of you insulting me and even attacking me, so he doesn't get to even think about stepping in for about almost two years." Harry growled out to Ron who paled and backed away. "And I'm not going to just sit back and let you insult and attack me anymore, for every insult or attack you throw out, I'll throw one. This is war."

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

On Christmas morning, Harry was woken up by Remus throwing himself onto his bed next to him. "Wake up! It's our first Christmas together as a family!" Remus cried before practically dragging Harry out of his bed and into their sitting room where they had set up their own Christmas tree that had quiet a few presents under it. Remus let go of the still half asleep Harry to practically bounce over to the tree.

Harry dragged his feet over to the couch where an equally half a sleep Severus was sitting with a cup of tea in his hands. Harry blinked at the way his father looked: Severus's usually combed hair was sticking out in weird angles, messier than usual this morning. It took Harry's brain a few minutes to realise why, he had been in the middle of opening his third present when it click.

"Ew!" Harry cried out suddenly causing his parents to look at him.

"Do you not like the gift?" Remus asked sadly and Harry actually glanced at the gift to see a beautiful silver-blue cloak.

"Not ew this. Ew you two." Harry said pointing at them.

"Why ew us?" Severus asked.

"You two had sex this morning! I was in the other room! That's why ew you!" Harry cried.

"First off, you're 13 years old, how do you know about sex?" Severus asked.

"I read!" Harry told him.

"Well stop it!" Severus ordered.

"And second off?" Remus asked while chuckling at them.

"And Second off, who said we had sex in our room, in our bed?" Severus asked smirking and it took a couple seconds for Harry to realise what he was implying.

"EW!" Harry yelled jumping off the couch as Severus laughed. "You two are disgusting!"

"One of these days you're not going to think that way. You'll find your own life partner and understand, and then you'll want to make love to them." Remus said.

"Ew, gross, no way!" Harry said shuddering in disgust.

"Yes, keep that mind set forever." Severus told him, Harry went to sit back down, but stopped himself.

"You didn't actually have sex on the couch, did you?" Harry asked eyeing the couch.

"No." Severus said reaching over to grab another present and Harry breathed a sigh of relief and sat down. "At least not today." He added with a smirk.

"EW!" Harry yelled, once again jumping up from the couch just as Haiden ran into the room holding his gift from Harry.

"YOU ARE THE BEST BROTHER EVER!" Haiden yelled as he ran over to Harry and pulled him into a tight hug.

"So I'm guessing you like it?" Harry asked as Haiden pulled away from the hug.

"Like it? I love it! How did you know I wanted it?" Haided asked showing hugging his new Firebolt broomstick to his chest.

"Hermione." Harry said. "I was struggling to figure out what to get you and Hermione suggested getting you the Firebolt. Apparently she had wanted to buy it for you, but didn't have enough money. So we decided to do a joint gift, I would get the broom and she would get you some new quidditch gear."

"Come on, I want to try it out!" Haiden said grabbing Harry's wrist and started to drag him out of the room, but Harry drug his feet.

"Haiden! Wait! I've still got presents to open! Plus I'm still in my pajamas!" Harry cried, but Haiden didn't seem to hear him as he was telling Harry how excited he was to try out the Firebolt and how awesome he and Hermione were.

"Hold it, Haiden." Remus said stepping in front of them, arms crossed. "You two are not going anywhere!"

"But-" Haiden started but Remus cut him off.

"No buts! We are still opening presents as a family, and you haven't even touched yours." Remus announced confusing Haiden.

"But I've already opened all the presents." Haiden told Remus, but Remus gently grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face the tree and pointed.

"Not the ones from me." Remus said.

"You got me presents?" Haiden asked and Remus nodded. "But why?"

"I may not have been able to legally adopt you like with Harry, but you are not only the son of by best friends, but you are also Harry's older brother, and therefore you are also my son." Remus told him and Haiden teared up turning around to hug Remus. "Our home is open whenever you want to stay." Remus whispered to. Harry watched them, happy that at least one of his fathers also sawHaiden as their son. Harry yelped when he was suddenly picked up by Severus.

"I may not have liked your father, Haiden, (in fact I despise him) and you may constantly remind me of him at times, but that does not mean I have forgotten that you are also Lily's son (and I wish you would act more like her than James). What I'm trying to say: Welcome to the family." Severus said receiving a kiss from Remus.

"Ew." Harry jokingly called out.

"Ew? Ew? I'll show you ew!" Severus threaten before kissing every part of Harry's face while laughing, shocking Haiden because he had never seen this side of Severus.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven- The Patronus**

Haiden stood outside the portrait that hid Remus's and Professor Snape's rooms, he was nervous, ringing his hands. He had never done this before. The portrait smiled at him as she walked back into frame and he smiled back. "He says he'll be right out." The portrait told him and Haiden began to panic. "Sweety, calm down, I'm sure whatever it is you're going to ask, he'll say yes." She told him a few seconds before she opened and Remus stepped out.

"Haiden, you know you don't have to ask the portrait to get me so I can let you in. We gave you the password, remember?" Remus asked jokingly as he stepped aside to let Haiden pass him, but Haiden stayed where he was.

"No, um, I didn't ask for you to come let me in, I wanted to ask you something." Haiden said nervously.

"Oh, well, come on in and we can discuss whatever it is you want to." Remus said motioning for Haiden to enter the portrait hole.

"No one else is in there, right? Because I kind of wanted to talk to you about this in private." Haiden said as he started to enter the portrait hole, missing Remus freeze for a few seconds.

"O-oh." Remus stuttered before clearing his throat. "Severus just left with Harry to go talk to Mr. Malfoy about something." They entered the main sitting area, Remus passed Haiden to sit on one of the chairs sitting across from the couch and motioned for Haiden to sit down, which he did. "I don't know how much help I can be for you, but I'll do my best to answer any questions you have."

"I want you to teach me that spell you used on the train to get the Dementor to leave." Haiden said and Remus gave out a relieved laugh confusing Haiden.

"That's what this is about? You want to learn the Patronus Charm? This has nothing to do with your relationship with Hermione or even changes you've noticed to your body?" Remus asked confusing Haiden even more.

"No, I just want to learn that spell? Why would you think I wanted to talk about Hermione? Is she okay?" Haiden asked starting to worry.

"She's fine. When you get a little older, you'll understand." Remus said chuckling a little before looking at him seriously. "May I ask why you want to learn the Patronus Charm?"

"I want to be able to protect Harry whenever those Dementors start attacking him again. I've wanted to learn it since the game when they attacked not only Harry but Hermione as well. But I could find the courage to ask you to teach me. I was afraid you wouldn't teach me." Haiden admitted.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"I'm not as close as you and Harry are. But then at Christmas you said I was your son, so I thought that meant it would be alright to ask you." Haiden told him. Remus stood up from the chair and took the few steps from it to the couch and knelt in front of Haiden.

"Haiden, did I ever give off the impression that you had to be part of my family to come to me outside of class to ask me anything?" Remus asked and Haiden shook his head. "Then why did you think I would not have taught you outside of class if you were not my son?" Haiden shrugged. "We'll start your lessons after our first Defense class." Haiden smiled and hugged Remus who hugged him back. "Don't be afraid to ask any of the Professor's here for help, not even Severus."

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Classes started again a week later. The last thing anyone felt like doing was spending two hours on the grounds on a raw January morning, but Hagrid had provided a bonfire full of salamanders for their enjoyment, and they spent an unusually good lesson collecting dry wood and leaves to keep the fire blazing while the flame-loving lizards scampered up and down the crumbling, white-hot logs. The fist Divination lesson of the new term was much less fun; Professor Trelawney was now teaching them palmistry, and she lost not time in informing Harry that he had the shortest life line she had ever seen. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts that Haiden was keen to get to; after his conversation with Remus last week, he wanted to get started on his anti-Dementor lessons as soon as possible.

"I didn't forget." Remus said when Haiden walked up to him after class. "Meet me about eight o'clock in the History of Magic classroom." Remus told him and Haiden nodded before turning and leaving the classroom to find that Ron were waiting for him.

"Is it me, or does he still look a little ill?" Ron asked as they walked down the corridor, heading to dinner.

"Actually, if you ask me, he looks a little healthier than he used to." Haiden said.

"What d'you reckon's the matter with him?" Ron asked. There was a loud and impatient 'tuh' from behind them. It was Hermione, who had been sitting at the feet of a suit of armor, repacking her bag, which was so full of books it wouldn't close. "And what are you tutting at us for?" Ron asked irritably.

"Nothing." Hermione said in a lofty voice, heaving her bag back over her shoulder as she stood up.

"Yes, you were." Ron said as Haiden and Hermione pecked each other on the lips. "I said I wonder what's wrong with Lupin, and you-"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked with a look of maddening superiority.

"If you don't want to tell us, don't." Ron snapped.

"Fine." Hermione said haughtily and marched off, leaving Haiden who didn't know if he should chase after her or not.

"She doesn't know." Ron said glaring after her as they continued to walk down the corridor. "If she did, she would have told us."

"I'm not so sure about that." Haiden muttered as he watched Hermione meet up with Harry, Draco, Myari, and Luna who had her arm linked with Harry.

Hermione whispered something to Harry who looked at her with wide eyes causing her to laugh, step in between Draco and Harry to link arms with Harry. Draco threw his arms in the air in obviously fake frustration as he said something that caused Myari to move to the other side of him to wack him in the back of the head before forcing him to link arms with her. Myari told Hermione something and in responce she linked her other arm with Draco. Haiden and Ron followed them with Haiden split. He wanted to join in on the fun they seemed to be having, but at the same time he didn't want to lose the first friend he had ever made.

Dinner flew by quickly. Haiden had been able to find a seat with Ron close enough to his new friends that he could easily join in on the fun, far enough that Ron didn't feel like he was being forced to hang out with 'Slytherin Scum' as he liked to call Draco and Myari. After dinner, Haiden asked Hermione out for a walk around the lake, which she accepted with Harry and Myari teasing them.

"Did you want me to chase after you?" Haiden asked a few minutes into their walk.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Before dinner, when Ron made you mad. Did you want me to chase you instead of staying with Ron?" Haiden asked Hermione sighed and looked away.

"I had hoped you would." Hermione said and Haiden felt bad. "But I understand why you didn't: You don't want to lose Ron as a friend. Which I don't understand, he's a jerk to everyone, even you, but especially to Harry. I'm not going to tell you to stop hanging with him, he is your friend (why, I'm still not sure) and I'm not going to be one of those girlfriends that make you stop hanging out with a friend. If you decide to stop hanging out with him, then I want want that to be your decision, not mine. And if you never stop hanging out with him, then I will accept that, just know that I won't like it, but I won't make you stop." Hermione told him after a moment of silence.

"Thank you." Haiden said and Hermione nodded. The two fell into a comfortable, but slightly tense silence as they continued their walk. At eight o'clock, Haiden walked Hermione back to the Gryffindor Tower, kissed her good night, then headed for the History of Magic classroom. It was dark and empty when he arrived, but he lit the lamps with his wand and waited only five minutes when Remus turned up, carrying a large packing case, which he placed on Professor Binns' desk.

"What's that?" Haiden asked.

"Another boggart." Remus said stripping off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since you first asked me to teach you, and luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real dementor. The boggart will turn into a dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."

"Okay." Haiden said, trying to sound as though he wasn't apprehensive at all and merely glad that Remus had found such a good substitute for a real Dementor.

"Right, before we begin I want to first make sure you understand exactly what a Dementor is." Remus informed him. "Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this Earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. Even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself… soul-less and evil. You'll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."

"So they go after anyone?" Haiden asked.

"They don't care who or what you are, as long as they can feed from you." Remus said.

"Then why have they targeted Harry?" Haiden asked. "In the train, that Dementor had so many other students it could have fed off of, why did it choose Harry? During the Quidditch match, there were hundreds of students they could have feed off of, why did they fly past us to go feed off of Harry? Hermione told me they didn't even touch her, they only focused on Harry. Why Harry?"

"I have no answer for that. All I can tell you is that during the Quidditch match they were getting hungry, Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up… I don't think they could resist the large crowd around the Quidditch field. All that excitement… emotions running high… it was their idea of a feast." Remus said.

"So why did they skip the feast to go to Harry?" Haiden asked.

"I don't know. I guess there is something about Harry that just calls to them." Remus said sadly.

"Azkaban must be terrible." Haiden muttered and Remus nodded grimly.

"The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most of them go mad within weeks." Remus said.

"But Sirius Black escaped from them." Haiden said slowly. "He got away…"

"Yes." Remus said with a guarded voice. "Sirius must have found a way to fight them. I wouldn't have believed it possible… Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long…"

"Could he have used the Patronus Charm? You used it to make that Dementor on the train back off, and used it to dispel the group of Dementors that attacked Harry!" Haiden said and Remus shook his head.

"There was only one Dementor on the train, and I had help from the other Professors in dispeling the group of Dementors. The more there are, the more difficult it becomes to resist." Remus told him pulling out his wand motioning that Haiden should do the same. "Remember that as I teach you the spell. Also, this is highly advanced magic, Haiden - well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level."

"How does it work?" Haiden asked nervously.

"Well, when it words correctly, it conjures up a patronus," Remus said, "which is a kind of anti-Dementor - a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor." Haiden had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Remus continued, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very thing that the Dementor feeds upon - hope, happiness, the desire to survive - but it cannot feel despair, as real human can do, so the Dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Haiden, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."

"What does a Patronus look like?" Haiden asked curiously.

"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it." Remus told him.

"And how do you conjure it?" Haiden asked.

"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory." Remus told him. Haiden cast his mind out for a happy memory. Certainly, nothing that had happened to him at the Dursleys' was going to do. Finally, he settled on the moment when he had first ridden a broomstick.

"Right." He said, trying to recall as exactly as possible the wonderful, soaring sensation of his stomach.

"The incantation is this -" Remus cleared his throat. "Expecto patronum!

"Expecto patronum," Haiden repeated under his breath, "expecto patronum."

"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?"

"Oh - yeah -" Haiden said quickly forcing his thoughts back to that first broom ride. "Expecto patrono - no, patronu - sorry - expecto patronum, expecto patronum -" Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. "Did you see that?" Haiden asked excitedly. "Something happened!"

"Very good." Remus said smiling. "Right, then - ready to try it on a Dementor?"

"Yes." Haiden said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom, this was for Harry. He tried to keep his mind on flying, but something kept intruding… thoughts of Harry being attacked by the Dementor on the train… but he shouldn't think that. Remus grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. A Dementor rose slowly from the box, it's hooded face turned towards Haiden, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently towards Haiden, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him -

"Expecto patronum!" Haiden yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto-" The classroom and the Dementor were dissolving… Haiden was falling again through thick white fog, and a voice echoing inside his head, but it wasn't a woman as he expected, it was him, but only younger.

"Harry? Harry wake up? Why won't you wake up? WAKE UP!"

"Haiden!"

Haiden jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were lit again. He didn't have to ask what had happened.

"Sorry." He muttered sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked.

"Yes…" Haiden pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it.

"Here-" Remus handed him a Chocolate Frog. "Eat this before we try again. I didn't expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had."

"Is it alright if I choose another memory?" Haiden asked nibbling on the Chocolate Frog.

"Oh I suggest you do, that one doesn't seem to have been strong enough…" Remus insisted. Haide thought hard and decided his feelings when Gryffindor had won the House Championship last year had definitely qualified as very happy. He gripped his wand tightly again and took up his position in the middle of the classroom. "Ready?" Remus asked gripping the box lid.

"Ready." Haiden said, trying to fill his head with happy thought about Gryffindor winning, and not thoughts of Harry getting attacked.

"Go!" Remus said pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing it's breath; one rotting hand was extending towards Haiden -

"Expecto patronum!" Haiden yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto pat-" White fog obscured his senses… blurred shapes were moving around him…

"Up!" Aunt Petunia yelled pouding on the cupboard door. The sounds of the cot squeaking - small feet hitting the ground.

"Harry? Harry wake up? Why won't you wake up?" Someone screaming.

"Haiden! Haiden… wake up…" Remus was tapping Haiden hard on the face, this time it was a minuted before Haiden understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor.

"I don't remember this memory." Haiden muttered. "Why don't I remember this memory the Dementor is pulling up?" Haiden suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Remus wouldn't see.

"Perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced… I shouldn't have agreed to put you through this…" Remus started.

"No!" Haiden yelled. He got up again. "I'll have one more go! I'm not thinking of happy enough things, that's what it is… Hang on…" He racked his brain. A really, really happy memory… on that he could turn into a good, strong Patronus… The moment when Harry had woken from his coma! If that wasn't a happy memory, he didn't know what was… Concentrating very hard on how he felt when he saw Harry sitting up and talking for the first time after he had fallen into a coma.

"Ready?" Remus asked, he looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment. "Concentrating hard? All right - go!" He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose our of it; the room feel cold and dark-

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Haiden bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Haiden heard the screaming again - except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio - softer and louder and softer again - and he could still see the Dementor - it had halted - and then a huge, silver Stag with menacing antlers shot out of his wand and stood in between him and the Dementor for just a second before the Stag turned into a silver mist. And though Haiden's legs felt like water, he was still on his feet - though for how much longer, he wasn't sure -

"Riddikulus!" Remus roared, springing forward. There was a loud crack, and Haiden's Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank into a chair, feeling exhausted as if he'd just run a mile, and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Remus forcing the boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silver orb again.

"Excellent!" Remus said striding over to where Haiden sat. "Excellent, Haiden! That was an excellent start, your patronus had a form for a second. Now we just have to work on keeping it in its form."

"Can we have another go? Just one more go?" Haiden panted out.

"Not now." Remus told him firly. "You've had enough for one night. Here -" He handed Haiden a large bar of Honeydukes' best chocolate. "Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?"

"Okay." Haiden said. He took a bite of the chocolate and watched Remus extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. A thought had just occurred to him.

"Professor, why do you call Sirius Black by his first name, while everyone calls him by his last name?" Haiden asked and Remus paused.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Remus asked and Haiden nodded.

"I was friends with him, close friends. Very close friends. And even though I know everyone keeps reminding me of everything he has done, I still can't force myself to call him by his last name. He has never wanted to be associated with his last name, fought for years to be seen as anything other than a Black. And if I call him by the name he has always hated, I feel that the Sirius that I knew in school will be lost forever." Remus said tearing up, shocked Haiden.

"But I thought you were friends with my dad, does that mean he was also friends with Black?" Haiden asked and Remus nodded seemingly lost in memories of younger days.

"Oh yes, we were all friends. The three of us were as thick a thieves, never too far from the others. I could always count on James and Sirius to get us into trouble. Did you know that when James and Lily first met, she wanted nothing to do with him?" Remus asked with a wet laugh.

"Really? From what everyone's told me of my mum and dad was that they were deeply in love, couldn't separate them." Haiden said shifting so that he was sitting more comfortably on the chair.

"Oh, they did love each other, would have done anything for the other. But they didn't start off that way. Lily and Severus were best friends, had meet before coming to Hogwarts and were inseparable, even after she was sorted into Gryffindor and him into Slytherin. That's where she met me, Sirius, James, and Petter. James got on her nerves with his constant yelling, fighting, and teasing the other students. He hated her uptight, know-it-all attitude. Over the years, they grew a strange friendship, where anytime he started to tease her or Severus she would curse him, it quickly became a game to James and Sirius." Remus said as his face suddenly drew somber.

"And then James fell in love with Lily and grew jealous of her friendship with Severus, and that was all they ever had. A very close friendship. She was like a sister to Severus, and him her brother. But at the time, James couldn't see that. So his teasing of Severus went from fun and friendly to ruthless and even downright deadly at times. Nothing I did could pull James out of his jealousy, and Sirius egged him on most of the time. I don't know how they did it, but one night, on the full moon, they somehow tricked Severus into going into the Forbidden Forest when they knew a Werewolf was hiding out." Haiden gasped understanding what Remus was getting at. "Severus was lucky to leave the Forbidden Forest alive that night. And for some strange reason that not even I know about, he never told Lily what James tried to do to him. Even helped set them up."

"Why? Why would he set up his best friend with the man that tried to kill him!?" Haiden asked and Remus shrugged.

"That just the thing about Severus, you never know what he is thinking or even why he does what he does. Maybe he had hoped that once they were together, James would calm down and leave him alone? I don't know and no matter how much I ask, he will never tell me." Remus said.

"I now understand why Severus hates my father…" Haiden started when he realized something, " … A father that I look exactly like. That makes why Professor Snape seemed hate me when we first met make so much sense."

"Is that why he became a Death Eater?" Harry asked from the doorway shocking Haiden who didn't even know he had been standing there.

"How did you know about that?" Remus asked.

"I saw the mark on his arm when I was in first year, when he let me stay in his room with him, I didn't think much of it until this year when I spotted that same mark on…" Haidn saw Harry glance at him from the corner of his eye which looked strange, but he couldn't tell why, "...something else. I got curious as to what that mark was and looked it up."

"What's a Death Eater?" Haiden asked, the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember why.

"That's not important right now. What is important is that you know that the situation with Severus and the Death Eaters is very complicated and if you want to know more about that, Harry, you need to talk to him. Because it is not my place to tell you." Remus told Harry sternly and Harry nodded. "Right, well, it's getting late. You'd better get back to the Tower before curfew hits, Haiden. You're coming with me, Harry." Remus said taking hold of the packing case before walking over to Harry and gripped his arm so tightly that it looked like it would bruise. Harry smirked and Haiden knew why Harry's eyes looked strange, they weren't his. His brother had been possessed yet again!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve- Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw**

He could hear her scream, could hear her begging for her life. It tore at what was left of his heart. He had never heard her sound so broken and weak. Throughout his time knowing her, he had never heard her sound anything but strong, maybe a little confused at times, but never weak. He looked towards the sound, wanting to go save her, but he had been given an order. And though the person who had given the order was dead now, he had been trained to put his orders above anything else.

He continued walking, barely pausing when he passed the hall that would lead him to her. His order was not to save her, but get to him and protect him, to make sure he lives. Just like he had been doing for most of his life. He was forced to place his safety above anything else, even his own safety. Had been trained in multiple different ways to be able to protect him, even trained how to kill. Had given up a little piece of his soul with every kill he did in the name of protecting him. And he did it all without anyone but the one who trained him knowing. He was more killer than human now.

He pushed the human part of himself into its cage as he silently slid into the room that he was being held in. His most trusted weapon in hand, ready to kill the only other person besides him and him in the room. His human side screamed and begged for him to stop when he caught the eyes of the only person he loved who loved him back. He ignored his human side, nothing was to keep him from completing his mission.

His weapon easily slid into his love's heart before they could even realise he was even in the room with them. He felt his human side become so small that it almost disappeared, but it was still clinging to life.

He stepped over his love's lifeless body and over to him who was being held up by chains, head bent. He checked to make sure he was still alive, he was. He used his magic to free him and then began to carry him out of the building to safety. The last of his human side died when he ignored her screams to save him. She would be dead by the time he would be able to return to save her. She was the last person alive that actually cared for him, was friends with him because of him and not him. And he let her die, like he did with all the others who cared about him. He was the reason she would die, her death was because of him.

"This universe is unbalanced with no way to fix it. If you accept my deal, I will help you save everyone you lost."

"Save them." He growled out reaching out to take hold of this strange man's hand and everything but the strange man's wide and slightly insane smile faded into black.

"Harry!" Harry's eyes snapped opened with a sudden intake of breath, feeling as if he had been holding his breath for a while. That intake of breath caused him to start coughing and gagging for air. His bed shifted as someone sat behind him and wrapped their arms around his, while someone else shoved a bin under him for him to get sick. "It's okay, it was just a nightmare. Whatever you saw, it wasn't real." The person, Remus, soothed as he finally caught his breath.

"Do you wish to talk about it?" The other person, Severus, asked removing the bin once he was sure Harry was done getting sick and magically removed the sick.

"I don't remember what it was." Harry croaked out.

"Well, that might be for the best." Severus muttered. Harry instantly picked up on some slight tension coming from Severus that was aimed at him.

"What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?" Harry asked and Severus shook his head.

"Not you, not really." Severus said confusing Harry.

"What do you remember from last night, after dinner?" Remus asked.

"Well, I hung out with Draco for a little while, seeing as he hadn't hung out in a while, before heading back here." Harry said wondering what happened last night.

"What time do you remember getting back?" Remus asked and Harry thought about it. He wanted to say just a little before eight, but that didn't feel right. He pulled up everything he remember from last night.

He remembered him and Draco laughing and maybe even flirting with each other. Harry kissing Draco on the cheek saying that he should get back before it got too late. Draco offering to walk him. Harry declining. He remembered leaving the Snake Pit alone as Myari returned from studying with Luna. Bumping into Cedric who was on his way back to his dorm from studying in the Library. He definitely remembers flirting with Cedric a little, and hoping Cedric had been flirting back. He remembers waving good bye to Cedric. And that was it. He didn't remember ever getting back here. Harry closed his eyes, silently praying that he had just blocked out the rest of the trip, but had a feeling he knew what had really happened.

"I don't remember when I got back." Harry told them. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that." Remus muttered. "You do remember me informing you that I was tutoring your brother right?" Harry nodded. "Well, last night was our first session. You stopped by." Harry didn't remember that.

"How long have you known I was a Death Eater?" Severus suddenly asked holding the inner part of his left forearm.

"Since last year. I saw your mark in my first year, but didn't know what it was and just thought you had a tattoo. But then I saw the same mark on Lucius's arm, in the same spot yours was, I don't think he knows I've seen it. But I got curious, why you both you and Lucius have the same tattoo in the same spot? Was it because you two are very close friends? And if so what did the tattoo mean? So I looked it up, and found that it wasn't a tattoo at all. I've been trying to find a time to ask you about it, but it never felt like the right time." Harry admitted and Severus nodded looking away. "But I never told anyone."

"You did last night." Severus informed him.

"What?" Harry asked.

"When you stopped by the tutoring session, you mentioned Severus being a Death Eater. Thankfully Haiden didn't know what a Death Eater was at that time, thankfully your father was able to talk to your brother this morning and get him to swear not to tell anyone about him being a Death Eater." Remus said.

"I didn't-" Harry started but Severus stopped him.

"It wasn't you, you were possessed last night." Severus told him as he moved to finally sit next to Harry. "I'm not mad at you, slightly annoyed that this is how this conversation got started, because truth be told, I've been trying to find a good time to sit you down and talk to you about this, to explain." Severus started.

"You don't have to explain." Harry told him. "At least, not right now. There is too much going on right now, and I don't think I can handle it right now." Harry slipped out of Remus's hold to get up from the bed. "If it's alright with you, I'm going to run away from this conversation for now, but come back to it, just not now." Harry told them before running out of the room, not even bothering to change.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Harry walked into the Gryffindor Tower and over to Fred and George, who were snuggling on the couch reading a book together. Harry gently pulled the book out of their hands and forced himself in between them before placing the book back in their hands. The twins shifted so they were more comfortable while each of them wrapped an arm around him.

"What's wrong, kitten?" Fred asked.

"Who says anything's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Because you only do this when something is wrong." George said.

"I don't want to talk about it, or well, I can't talk about it." Harry told them and they nodded. They gently squeezed him before returning to reading as Harry focused on what was going on with the rest of the common room. Hermione and Haiden were studying across from them, Neville was practicing some wand movements, Ginny was gossiping with some girls her age. He didn't get to see what the others were doing because at that precise moment, a strangled yell echoed down the boy's staircase. The whole common room fell silent, staring, petrified, at the entrance. Then came hurried footsteps, growing louder and louder - and then Ron came leaping into view, dragging with him a bedsheet.

"LOOK!" He bellowed, striding over to Hermione's table. "LOOK!" He yelled, shaking the sheets in her face.

"Ron, what-?"

"SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!" Hermione was leaning away from Ron, looking both utterly bewildered and terrified. And that was what made Harry shoot up from his spot, out of sight from Ron. He ran over to Hermione and Ron, shoved Ron away from her, and stood protectively between her and Ron. "YOU! BOTH OF YOU! YOU BOTH DID THIS!" Ron screamed now shaking the sheet at him. Harry glanced down at the sheet before glaring at Ron. There was something red on it. Something that looked horribly like- "BLOOD!" Ron yelled into the stunned silence. "HE'S GON! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

"N-no." Hermione said in a trembling voice. Ron threw something down onto Hermione's rune translation. Hermione and Harry leaned forward. Lying on top of the weird spiky shapes were several long, ginger cat hairs. Hermione gasped just as Loki jumped up onto the table, walking over to the hairs to sniff them, leaving a trail of bloody paw prints in his wake.

Harry had just enough time from looking from Loki to Ron to dodge the punch Ron had thrown at him. And that was what had started it. Harry didn't really know what had come over him, or how he even knew how to do everything he did. But he raised his leg up and kicked Ron in he gut, causing Ron to fall to the ground. Ron quickly got back up and launched himself at Harry who did a Back Roundhouse Kick, kicking Ron in the head, knocking him out.

It was silent for a long time as Harry stood there in shock at what he had just instinctively done. Hermione was the first one to move, she slowly got up and cautiously placed her hand on his arm to get him to look at her. "Ron attacked you." She told him once she was sure she had his attention. "You were defending yourself."

"That's what I saw." Neville agreed and slowly, one by one, the other people in the Gryffindor Common room agreed that Harry had only acted in self defense. But that wasn't what Harry was worried about, he didn't care if when Ron woke up he went and cried attack to Dumbledore. No, what he was more worried about was how his body knew to instinctively do that kick.

Hermione gently pulled him to sit next to her and glared at anyone who dared to even think about coming near them and open their mouths to talk to either of them. She even glared at Fred and George when they tried to ask Harry how he was and if he was alright. Harry stayed next to Hermione for the rest of the day with her glaring everyone away from them, not even Haiden was safe from her glares. She wouldn't even let him go back to his room with Severus and Remus, nor would she allow him to go to his Ravenclaw dorm room. She made him sleep right next to her that night.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

As the weeks past, Harry expected everyone to be talking about Harry knocking Ron out, but all they were talking about was how Ron tried to attack Harry again. No one talked about Harry kicking Ron in the gut to knock him to the ground, no one talked about Harry kicking Ron in the head to knock him out. They only talked about how Ron went off on not only Harry but Hermione as well, accusing them of training their cats to kill and eat Scabbers. How Ron would have killed Hermione had Harry not intervend. How Harry protected Hermione from Ron's wrath. And because of that no one questioned why Hermione and Harry seemed to be practically glued at the hip now, and why Ron kept glaring at them.

This seemed to be the end of Ron and Hermione's very fragile friendship. Each was so angry with the other that no one could see them ever making up. Ron and Harry never had a friendship to end, but this did strengthen Ron's dislike for Harry, possibly even made Ron hate Harry.

Ron was enraged that Hermione and Harry had never taken Crokshanks's and Loki's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough watch on them, and were still pretending that they were innocent by suggesting that Ron look for Scabbers under all the boys' beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks or Loki had eaten Scabbers. That the ginger hairs could have been there since Christmas. That the blood on Loki's paws could have been caused by him walking through the blood. And that Ron had been prejudiced against Crookshanks ever since he had landed on Ron's head in the Magical Menagerie.

Personally, Harry wouldn't have been shocked if Loki did eat Scabbers, but he did not think that Crookshanks would have killed or eaten Scabbers. Crookshanks might have helped Loki catch Scabbers, but he would not have actually done the killing or eating of the rat that probably wasn't even a rat.

Harry tried to ignore the whispers and stares him and Hermione were getting as they walked with Haiden, who was carrying his Firebolt, towards the Great Hall. He tried to convince himself that they were whispering and staring at the Firebolt. When they entered the Great Hall, heads turned in the direction of them and the Firebolt, half the muttering that exploded was about the Firebolt.

"Did you see his face?" Harry heard Ron ask Haiden after they had sat down at the Gryffindor Table, Hermione turned her face away from Ron, ignoring him. "He can't believe it! This is brilliant!" Harry wondered who they were talking about, but didn't dare ask and forced himself to focus on anything else.

At a quarter to eleven, Hermione and Harry walked with Haiden and the Gryffindor team to the locker room, making sure they were not alone in fear that they would get attacked again. The weather couldn't have been more different from Gryffindor's match against Hufflepuff. It was a clear, cool day with a very light breeze. Just in case the Dementors decided to try and attack again, Harry was able to get him and Hermione a seat next to Remus and Severus in the teachers' box.

"You're looking a lot better lately, Professor Lupin." Hermione said as they sat waiting for the match to start. "No offense!" Remus chuckled obviously taking no offense.

"It is alright, Ms. Granger. I have been feeling a lot better lately, I believe it is thanks to the meditations Harry introduced me to." Remus said shooting a smile at Harry who smiled back, happy that Remus decided to try connecting with his Wolf instead of slowly killing him. "But you, my dear, are look quite tired. I have heard of all the courses you are taking this year. That is quite impressive, but they seem to be wearing you down quite a lot. If you feel you need to drop one or two, I'm sure Professor McGonagall will be able to make that happen."

"I'm fine. I can handle it." Hermione said quickly and seemed to be relieved when the teams walked out onto the field. The match started and seemed to be going well. A few players were hit with the bludger, Haiden and Cho, Ravenclaw's seeker, fought to find and catch the Snitch. But it was when Gryffindor was leading by eight points when they came. Three Dementors, three tall, black hooded Dementors were heading straight towards him. They past under Haiden who pulled out his wand and shot a Patronus at them, knocking them over and showing that they weren't Dementors at all. The 'Dementors' were actually Pansy and a few of her friends. Haiden didn't seemed to notice this as he flew past them and caught the snitch.

Hermione and Harry rushed down the the field to congratulate him. They got there just as the whole Gryffindor team managed to make it to the ground. Haiden got off his broom and looked up, locking eyes with Hermione smiling at her as she took off across the field to get to him first, but Ron flew past her.

"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Haiden's arm into the air as the rest of the crowd go there. "Yes! Yes!"

"Well done, Haiden!" Percy said looking delighted. "Ten Galleons to me! Must find Penelope, excuse me-"

"Good for you, Haiden!" Seamus Finnigan roared.

"Ruddy Brilliant!" Hagrid boomed over everyone's head.

"That was quite some Patronus." Remus said who looked both shaken and pleased.

"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!" Haiden said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"

"That would be because they -er- weren't Dementors." Remus said before leading Haiden with Hermione and Harry following them out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field. "You gave Mrs. Parkinson quite a fright." Pansy and her friends were lying in a crumpled heap on the ground struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Pansy had been standing on the shoulders of one of her friends. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall with Severus standing behind her with his arms crossed.

"An unworthy trick!" She was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker!"

"We were going after him!" Pansy cried.

"Stop talking, Ms. Parkinson, you're only making your situation worse." Severus commanded.

"Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!" McGonagall said as Dumbledore walked over to them. Harry jumped when he felt two sets of arms land on his shoulders.

"Come on, Harry, Haiden, Hermione! Party! Gryffindor common room, now!" George told them.

"Right." Haiden said looking happier than he had in ages, he and the rest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes, out of the stadium, and back up to the castle.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Harry and Hermione sat in the corner of the common room with Hermione, watching the others party as if they had already won the Quidditch Cup; the party went on all day and well into the night. Harry also learned the reason why everyone was so much more excited about this win then all the others. Apparently during the last match, Haiden, who had been so close to catching the snitch, had glanced over his shoulder to check how far back Cedric was from him, only to spot the Dementors attacking them. And quickly flew over to the teachers box to inform them of what was happening, giving Cedric enough time to grab the snitch, winning that match. Them winning this match assured them a chance at winning the Cup.

At some point during the party, Fred and George disappeared for a couple of hours only to return with armfuls of bottles of butterbear, pumpkin fizz, and several bags full of Honeydukes sweets. "How did you do that?" Angelina Johnson squealed as George started throwing Peppermint Toads into the crowd.

Haiden broke away from the table where Fred and George had started juggling butterbeer bottles and made his way over to them with three bottles of butterbeer. Hermione had started trying to attempt to read an enormous book entitled Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. "Everything okay?" Haiden asked handing Harry a butterbeer.

"Of course." Hermione said looking away from the book to smile at Haiden and accept a butterbeer. "I'm really happy we won, you were amazing, but I need to read this by Monday."

"Why don't you come and have some food." Haiden said looking over his shoulder at Ron who was gorging himself on the food some students had gotten from the Kitchen.

"I can't, Haiden. I've still got Four hundred and twenty-two pages to read!" Hermione said. "Anyway…" She glanced over at Ron too. "He doesn't want me to join in, and I don't want to start another fight." There was no arguing with this, as Ron chose that moment to say loudly:

"If Scabbers hadn't just been eaten, he could have had some of those Fudge Flies. He used to really like them-" Harry shot up from seat next to Hermione, and before she could stop him, he was pushing his way through the crowd towards Ron.

"Give it a rest already, Ronald!" Harry growled out when he got there. "So my cat may or may not have killed and eaten your stupid rat! Which by the way, you weren't even supposed to be able to bring to school anyway!"

"What?" Ron asked.

"Oh yeah, if you were smart enough to have read the school rules and guidelines then you would have known that the only pets allowed were cats, owls, or toads. So look at it this way, my cat just helped you, you are no longer breaking a school rule. And if it bothers you so much, I'll give you the money so you can buy you a pet you can actually have here." Harry said.

"I don't want your stupid money. You're just like Malfoy flashing your money around and thinking your so much better than everyone else!" Ron growled out.

"How have I ever flashed my money around?" Harry asked.

"You bought that Firebolt! Everyone knows how expensive that broom is!" Ron yelled.

"So what? I bought it for Haiden for christmas! You didn't seem to mind it before when he was using it to win the match! And so what if I have money and want to use it to buy my brother or hell even my friends something nice once and awhile. I don't go around buying the most expensive stuff just so I can rub it in other less fortunate people's face." Harry said.

"Oh, so now my family is less fortunate because we have less money than you?" Ron asked.

"What the-? Where did you even get that from? Do you even hear yourself when you speak?" Harry asked. "You are the reason the gene pool needs a lifeguard! You only hear whatever you want to hear, you have already have it in your mind that I'm the bad guy, I can say 'I'm going to help Haiden destroy Voldemort.' And all you'll hear is "I'm going to destroy Haiden.' I'm done with you Ronald." Harry said before turning to leave.

"See this is why no one likes you Harry, a guy tried to speak his mind and you go off on him. No one is allowed to speak their minds around you!" Ron yelled after him. Harry stopped walking to spin around to glare at Ron.

"Ronald, if you ever spoke your mind, you'd be speechless!" And then Harry left the Gryffindor common room.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Some time later that night, Harry woke up to someone screaming, and he was shocked to find himself sleeping on the couch in the Gryffindor Common room. Harry heard a dormitory door slam shut and footsteps race down the stairs. Harry peered over the back of the couch in time to catch a glimpse of Sirius Black running through the Common room and out the portrait hole.

"Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!" He heard yelled from the dormitory, shocking him out of his fear at seeing Sirius again since he had tried to strangle him the last time he had seen the man. Harry jumped over the back of the couch and flew up the stairs, he needed to make sure his brother was alright.

He got to the dormitory door just as Haiden swung the door open and looked shocked to see him for a second, before Haiden grabbed his arm and they sprinted back down the stairs with the other boys from Haiden's dormitory behind them. Doors opened behind them, and sleepy voiced called after them.

"Who shouted?"

"What're you doing?"

The Common room was lit with the glow of the dying fire, still littered with the debris from the party. It was deserted.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?"

"I'm telling you, I saw him!"

"What's all the noise?"

"Professor McGonagall told us to go to bed!" A few of the girls, including Hermione, had come down the staircase, pulling on dressing gowns and yawning. Boys, too, were reappearing.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" Fred asked brightly.

"Everyone back upstairs!" Percy said, hurrying into the Common room and pinning his Head Boy badge onto his pajamas as he spoke.

"Perce- Sirius Black!" Ron said faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!" The Common room went silent.

"Nonsense!" Percy said looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron - had a nightmare-"

"I'm telling you-"

"Now, really, enough's enough!"

"I saw him too." Harry said finally drawing attention to himself. Professor McGonagall was back. She slammed the portrait behind her, as she entered the Common room and stared furiously around.

"I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" Percy, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! Harry and my brother Ron here shared a nightmare-"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron roared. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!" Professor McGonagall started at him.

"Professor, if I may?" Harry asked and she nodded at him. "I was sleep here, on the couch, why I don't know, the last thing I remember is falling asleep in my room. I was woken up by a scream, I then heard a dormitory door slam shut, footsteps running down the stairs, and when I peek over the back of the couch, I saw him. Sirius Black ran through the Common room and out the portrait hole."

"How did he get through the portrait hole?" She asked him.

"I don't know, as I said, I don't even know how I got here, or why I'm here." Harry told her.

"Ask him!" Ron said pointing a shaking finger at the back of Sir Cadogan's picture. "Ask him if he saw-" Glaring suspiciously at both Harry and Ron, Professor McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The whole Common room listened with bated breath.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?" McGonagall asked.

"Certainly, good lady! 20 minutes after I let the young boy in. The young boy didn't look too well, his left eye had what look like black ooze spreading all around his eye out to his skin. Is he alright, I would have gone to get him help, but I could not leave my post." There was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the Common room. Harry saw Haiden glance at him and Harry touched his left eye while silently asking if there was anything there. Haiden shook his head no.

"You - you did?" McGonagall asked. "But - but the password!"

"He had 'em!" Sir Cadogan said proudly. "Had the whole week's worth, my lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!" McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. She was white as chalk. She quickly walked over to Harry, took his chin and made him look at her as she tilted his head left and right. "You seem fine, now." She muttered before looking around the room. "Which person," she said loud enough for everyone to here, her voice shaking, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them laying around?"

There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terrified squeaks. Neville Longbottom, trembling from head to fluffy slippers toes, raised his hand slowly into the air.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen- Harry's Plan**

Harry was forced to stay in the Gryffindor Tower that night with Percy as his watch, who was also watching over Haiden and Ron. No one in the Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole house plus Harry stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. And as they waited, Harry witnessed the birth of a new rumor about him.

According to the rumor, he had been the person Black had really be after. Black had watched Harry enter the Tower, waited what he thought was a long enough time for Harry to get to the dormitory and fall asleep. That's when he attacked and mistaken Ron's bed as Harry's, not knowing that Harry wasn't a Gryffindor.

When Professor McGonagall returned back at dawn with Severus and Remus following her, the first thing they did was search for Harry, finding him curled up on the Weasley Twins' lap feigning sleep to get away from everyone else since he had not been allowed to leave the common room by Percy. It was then that she informed them that Black had escaped. Remus carefully picked Harry up and carried him from the Gryffindor common room with Haiden following him, who was followed by Severus.

"Where are we going?" Haiden asked.

"You're going to be staying with us for a while." Remus told him. "For your own safety."

"Wait, what about me? I was the one who was attacked!" Ron asked angrily.

"You weren't the target." Remus said before leaving, sparking even more fuel for the rumor to spread.

Throughout the day, everywhere anyone went they saw signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognize a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan had been fired. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She had been expertly restored, but was still extremely nervous, and had agreed to return to her job only on condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been hired to guard her. They paced the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunt and comparing the size of their clubs.

Harry couldn't help noticing that the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor remained unguarded and unblocked. It seemed that Fred and George had been right in thinking that they - and now Harry, Haiden, Hermione, and Ron (and possibly Remus and maybe even Sirius) - were the only ones who knew about the hidden passageway within it.

"D'you reckon we should tell someone ?" Harry overheard Haiden ask Ron when they were helping Haiden pack some stuff to move into their shared room in Remus and Severus' rooms.

"We know he's not coming in through Honeyduke's." Ron said dismissively while haphazardly throwing some of Haiden's trinkets into a box. "We'd've heard if the shop had been broken into." Harry rolled his eyes.

Ron had become an instant celebrity. For the first time in his life, people were paying more attention to him that Haiden and Harry, and it was clear that Ron was rather enjoying the experience. Though still severely shaken by the night's events, he was happy to tell anyone who asked what had happened with a wealth of detail.

"... I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was a draft … I woke up and one side of the hanging on my bed had been pulled down … I rolled over … and I saw him standing over me … like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair … holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches … and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scampered.

"Why, though?" Ron added to Haiden as the group of second year girls who had been listening to his chilling tale departed. "Why did he run?"

Harry thought he knew the answer: He wasn't the killer everyone said he was. He had been after Ron's pet rat, and knew that he usually slept with the rat next to him on the bed. And when saw the rat was not there, Ron had woken up, shocking him, and then Ron had screamed. Not wanting to get caught before his mission on catching, and possibly killing the rat, was over, ran.

Neville was in total disgrace. Professor McGonagall was so furious with him that she had banned him from all future Hogsmeade visits, given him detention, and forbidden anyone to give him the password into the tower. Poor Neville was forced to wait outside the common room every night for someone to let him in, while the security trolls leered unpleasantly at him, that was until Harry asked Luna to let Neville use his old Ravenclaw room. None of these punishments, however, came close to matching the one his grandmother had in store for him. Two days after Black's break-in, she sent Neville the worst thing a Hogwarts students could receive over breakfast- a Howler.

The school owls swooped into the Great Hall carrying the mail as usual, and Neville choked as a huge barn owl landed in front of him, a scarlet envelope clutched in its beak. Haiden, who was sitting opposite of him, recognized the letter as a Howler at once - Ron had got one from his mother the year before.

"Run for it, Neville." Haiden advised. Neville didn't need tell twice. He seized the envelope, and holding it before him like a bomb, sprinted out of the hall with Harry right after him. Harry had barely gotten to the envelope in time to magically erect a sound proof barrier around it to silence the screams of Neville's grandmother just out side the hall. Not wanting his friend to be even more humilliated than he had already been.

That night, Harry was in the Gryffindor Tower studying with Luna, Hermione, and Neville when McGonagall came in and posted something on the bulletin board that was quickly surrounded the second she had left. None of them had gotten up to go check the bulletin board, opting to wait until the crowd had disbanded. It was then Haiden and Ron got back from their trip to Hagrid's hut. Ron split from Haiden's side to force his way into the crowd as Haiden came and sat next to Hermione, in between her and Harry, and shared a kiss with her.

"Hogsmeade, next weekend!" Ron announced after making his way over towards the group, he tried to shove Harry out of the chair he was sitting in, but Harry punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Ron glared at Harry as he quickly moved to try and shove his way in between Haiden and Hermione but Hermione slapped him and Haiden pushed him away. So he was forced to stand just outside the group, which he wasn't happy about. "What d'you reckon?" Harry sighed and shut his book before looking at Luna who was using him as a pillow.

"Luna, dear, would you mind moving to the otherside of the room with Neville. It'll just be temporary and once I'm done talking about something I don't want you guys to know about, I'll come get you two." Harry asked politely with a smirk. Luna thought about it before rolling off him, grabbing Neville's hand, and escorted him to a corner on the other side of the room where they stood, looking as if they were in time out. Harry shook his head at her antics before turning his attention to Ron, Hermione and Haiden.

"Haiden, if you go into Hogsmeade again … I'll tell Professor McGonagall about the map!" Hermione hissed out.

"Can you hear someone talking, Haiden?" Ron growled out trying once again to get in between Haiden and Hermione, but Hermione shoved him out of the way with a surprising show of strength.

"Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! I mean it, I'll tell-"

"So now you're trying to get Haiden expelled!" Ron asked furiously. "Haven't you done enough damage this year?" Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but with a soft his, Crookshanks leapt into her lap.

"So how about it?" Ron asked Haiden as if though there had been no interruption. "Come on, last time we went you didn't see anything. You haven't even been inside Zonko's yet!" This was when Harry decided he would jump in.

"Haiden, listen to me, if you try to go to Hogsmeade, I will make you regret even trying. It is not safe for you to leave the castle without anyone knowing where you're going." Harry warned. Haiden looked between Hermione, Ron, and him for a minute before giving him and Hermione an apologetic smile. Harry nodded silently before snapping his fingers and magically packed the study stuff up. "Alright, that's fine. Come on Hermione, we have some planning to do."

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

On Saturday morning, Harry sat invisible (Hermione's suggestion) next to the one-eyed witch statue, waiting for Haiden to appear. And appear he did, just after everyone left to go to Hogsmeade, Haiden hurriedly made his way to the statue. He crouched behind the one-eyed witch, right next to Harry, pulled out the Marauder's Map, and every time Haiden would try to open it, Harry would place and in visible finger on it and close it as it started to open.

This went on for a few minutes before Haiden got fed up and just tried to open the passage, which Harry would instantly close. This dance continued until Neville walked around the corner, just as Harry had planned, having asked the boy to meet him there around this time. "Haiden! I forgot you weren't going to Hogsmeade either!"

"Hi, Neville." Haiden said, moving swiftly away from the statue and pushed the map back into his pocket. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing." Neville shrugged. "Harry asked me to meet him here." Harry watched them both glance around to try and spot him, but since he had made himself invisible they could not see him. "It's not like him to be late."

"Maybe he got pulled away by Luna and Myari? Maybe you should go see." Haiden suggested and Neville thought about before shaking his head.

"If he's with them, I don't really want to bother them. Plus Myari kind of scares me." Neville admitted, suddenly Neville had a look of realization in his eyes for a split second before he smiled at Haiden. "Want a game of Exploding Snap?"

"Er - not right now - I was going to go to the library and do that vampire essay for Lupin -" Haiden said nervously.

"I'll come with you!" Neville said brightly. "I haven't done it either!" Harry knew that was a lie, since that's what they had been doing the night Hogsmeade weekend had been announced. It seemed that Neville realized why Harry wanted to meet here in this unused corridor.

"Er - hang on - yeah, I forgot, I finished it last night!" Haiden lied awkwardly.

"Great, you can help me!" Neville said, his round face anxious. "I don't understand that thing about the garlic at all - do they have to eat it, or-" He broke off with a small gasp, looking over Haiden's shoulder. Harry looked behind Haiden to see Severus hurriedly walking over to them. Well, that wasn't who he had planned to come by, it had asked Remus to make a round through this hallway around this time. Something must have come up and Remus asked Severus to make the round instead.

"And what are you two doing here?" Severus asked coming to a halt and looking from one to the other. "An odd place to meet-" Severus looked to the doorways on either side of them, and then to the one-eyed witch.

"We're not - meeting here." Haiden said. "We just - met here."

"Indeed?" Severus said. "You seem to have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Haiden, and you are rarely there for no good reason… that's not safe. I suggest the pair of you return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong. Unless you want me bringing both of you back to my office." Neville squeaked in fear before grabbing Haiden's wrist and pulling him down the hall and away from Severus and towards the Gryffindor Tower. Harry smirked, happy his plan had worked. "You can drop your invisibility spell, Harry." Severus told him as he began to inspect the one-eyed witch.

"How did you know I was here?" Harry asked in shock as he dropped the spell becoming visible once more.

"I have my ways." Severus said with small smirk, finishing up his inspection of the witch. "Haiden has the map, doesn't he?"

"You know about the map? Did Remus tell you about it?" Harry asked as the two of them began to walk towards Severus's office.

"No. He doesn't know I know about it." Severus informed Harry.

"Then how do you know about it?" Harry asked as they got to the office.

"As I said, I have my ways." Severus said with a small, yet sad smile.

"My mom told you about it, didn't she." Harry softly asked and Severus nodded. "Well, since my plan is done, I'm going to head back and make sure Haiden stays in the castle." Harry turned to leave when Severus called out to him.

"Harry, that map should have been turned in to a teacher the second Black was spotted on school grounds. With it, we would have been able to catch him quicker. I had gone to Filch, who I knew was the last person to have had the map, only to find it mysteriously missing. I know you didn't take the map from Filch's office, but I know you know." Severus said and Harry's only response was to run away. He didn't stop running until he got to the Gryffindor Tower where he found a nervous looking Neville.

"I'm sorry Harry, but Haiden got away from me." Neville informed Harry who growled in anger, spun on the balls of his feet.

"Go get Professor Snape, tell him to get to the one-eyed witch as fast as he can!" Harry ordered before gathering his magic to his feet and sprinted away, running faster than he ever had before with the help of his magic. He flew towards the One-eyed witch, nearly blasted the hidden door open, and flew down the tunnel. He made it to Honeydukes in record time. Not caring if he got noticed running out of the basement, he ran through the store only to stop running outside Honeydukes, panting, and called up his magic, ording it to locate his brother. Haiden was located climbing the slope to visit the Shrieking Shack, the most haunted dwelling in Britain.

With another growl, Harry shot off towards the Shrieking Shack just as Haiden and Ron got to the top of the slope where Draco and Hermione were leaning against the wooden fence talking. Harry slammed into Haiden, who was hidden under the invisibility cloak. "Harry!?" Hermione cried in shock.

"I told you that you would regret coming here!" Harry growled out ripping the cloak off his brother, showing his terrified face.

"Haiden!?" Hermione cried in shock as Haiden started to struggled to get Harry off of him, but Harry was shockingly stronger than him.

"You are coming back to the castle with me, and then we are giving Severus the map! It's time for Sirius to get caught! He knows about the map! Knows about the tunnels, He knows-" Suddenly Harry stopped talking and looked at the Shrieking Shack in fear. "We have to leave this place. Now!" Harry pulled Haiden up, used his magic to pulled Hermione, Draco, and even Ron to him, wrapped his arms around them and then, without thinking anything other than getting them away from the Shrieking Shack, apparated them just outside the one-eyed witch. They all landed in a large pile, everyone landing on top of him, just as Severus ran around the corner.

"What's going on here? What happened?" Severus asked frantically. Harry, weak from the amount of magic it had taken him to safely apparate all of them through the antiaparation barrier, struggled to fight his way out from underneath everyone who were all disoriented from the sudden apparition. Severus shoved everyone off of him and helped Harry to his feet, causing his sight to fade in and out of darkness.

"Sirius… map… Sha-." Was all that Harry was able to slur out before collapsing in magical fatigue.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen- Hermione to The Rescue!**

By the time the disorientation left her, Hermione found herself laying on a bed in the Hospital Wing. But she wasn't the only one in there. Everyone who had been at Hogsmeade were all occupying a bed, and not just the students. Shop owners and people who lived in Hogsmeade were there as well.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked looking around in confusion, and then suddenly she was surrounded by teachers, including Professor Dumbledore. They all started asking her questions all at once. From what she could gather from catching parts of their questions, everyone had suddenly appeared all at once with an explosive 'pop' disoriented, and she was the first one to waken from her disorientation.

"Quiet! You're giving me a headache and I can't understand you all at once!" Hermione snapped before she realized what she had done. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean- I don't know what came over me just then!"

"It is quiet alright dear, if you hadn't done it, I would have." Krystin Rose said shoving her way through the crowd with Madam Pomfrey right behind her. "Now everyone back up!" Krystin ordered. "Give the girl some breathing room. And then after I check her over, and only then, can you ask her one at a time what happened." She told them with a firm glare which caused everyone to backup with shameful looks. "Right, now, can you tell me your full name and date of birth?" She asked turning her attention back onto Hermione.

"Hermione Jean Granger, September 19 1979." Hermione answered as Krystin used her wand as a light and began checking Hermione eyes, checking her pupil dilation and response.

"What are your parents names?" Krystin asked. "Also follow my wand with your eyes."

"My dad's name is Wendell Granger, and my mother's name is Monica Granger." Hermione said as she followed the wand up, down, left, and right with only her eyes.

"Good. Can you feel this?" Krystin asked taking Hermione's left hand and giving it a slight squeeze.

"Yes." Hermione said.

"Awesome. How about this?" Krystin asked poking her foot which Hermione only just realized had had the shoe removed.

"Yes." Hermione answer causing Krystin to smile.

"Great! Can you lift both of your arms above your head?" Krystin asked and Hermione lifted her arms in response. "Perfect. Now I need you to wiggle your toes." Hermione did so and Krystin smiled. "Good, good. Can you stand up?" Hermione stood from the bed. "Great, you can sit back down. Just one last simple thing." Krystin pulled out a small silver ball from her pocket as Hermione sat back down. "I just need for you to grab your wand from the table beside you, and levitate this ball from my hand. And then we'll be done."

"Okay." Hermione said grabbing her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa." The ball quivered before shakily levitating off of Krysin's hand about half an inch for a few second before falling back down before Hermione cut off the spell.

"Your magic still seems a little unstable, but you did just wake up. So rest for a few more minutes and we'll retry. I don't want you to leave until you can keep this ball in the air for a good minute, alright?" Krystin said and Hermione nodded as someone else woke up. "Right, rest. I'll be back." Krystin walked away and Dumbledore walked over to Hermione.

"I do apologise about our behavior earlier. We are just concerned about what happened, all we could find out from the magic that caused everyone to appear here; and the fact that you, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley, Haiden and Harry were found away from everyone else; that it was Harry who brought everyone here." Dumbledore told her causing her to remember what happened. She gasped and looked around noticing that her bed was in between Haiden and Ron, Draco was laying on the other side of Haiden, yet Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked frantically, worried something had happened to Harry.

"Calm down, Miss Granger, Harry is quite alright. He has been placed in a private room where he can rest up without all of us disturbing him. This," Dumbledore motioned to all the people who were slowly waking up one by one, "dangerously drained him of most of his magic. He collapsed in Professor Snape's arms. Professor Snape found you all in a pile in an unused third floor were told by Professor Snape that Harry had slurred out two, possibly three words, but he couldn't figure out what that last world, if it was one, was." Dumbledore placed a calming hand on Hermione's shoulder. "If you can, please tell me what you remember."

"I was with Draco near the Shrieking Shack, trying to convince him to ask his father to drop his case against Hagrid and Buckbeak. I remember hearing some footsteps struggling up the slope to me and Draco. And when I turned to see who it was," Hermione paused to replay what she believed she saw in her mind to make sure she wasn't missing anything, "I think I saw Harry come flying up the slope and slam into something, I couldn't see what he had slammed into, but I know he slammed into something from the way his body stopped and the sound of him hitting something. He then pulled something off Haiden, revealing him, it was only then that I realized that Haiden had snuck into Hogsmeade under his Invisibility Cloak. The two of them started struggling with each other. Harry was so angry. I don't think I've ever seen him that mad. He was claiming that he was going to take Haiden back to the castle with him." Hermione told him.

"Do you know how both Haiden and Harry managed to sneak out of the castle and into Hogsmeade undetected?" Dumbledore asked and Hermione shook her head.

"I don't know the exact route. I just know it's connected to Honeydukes' basement since that's where they had entered to get back to school the last time." Hermione said.

"Last time? They've done this before?" Dumbledore asked and Hermione nodded.

"Only once, from my knowledge. They have a map. It shows all the hidden passages in the school, even the ones that lead out from the school. I don't know exactly where they got it, or if someone gave it to them. But the second I found out about the map I urged them to turn it in. Arguing that Black could steal it and use it, or it could be used to help search for Black. And at first both Harry and Haiden didn't want to give the map up, but after the attack on Ron, Harry was all for turning the map in." Hermione told him with tears in her eyes not sure if she was getting Harry and Haiden in trouble, but knew Dumbledore needed to know this.

"This map would help a great deal. But let's go back to outside the Shrieking Shack. What happened next?" Dumbledore asked, and Hermione shook her head.

"I don't know. I just know that Harry froze, looked at the Shack and then I'm waking up here." Hermione informed him. Dumbledore patted her shoulder and then went to get up before he seemed to remember something else.

"You said you were trying to get Mr. Malfoy to ask his father to drop his case, right?" Dumbledore asked and Hermione nodded wondering what this had anything to do with any of this. "I'm afraid Mr. Malfoy would not have been able to do much. The Minister decided to push the trial date to today." With that he left. Hours later everyone but Harry was released from the Hospital Wing.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

The next day, after being denied being allowed to see Harry, Hermione, Haiden, and Ron trugged across the grounds to go visit Hagrid and find out how the trial went. But the second Hermione saw the Axeman sitting in the courtyard sharpening his axe, she knew the outcome. As they passed him, Hermione glared at him, he smiled a crooked smile at her. She then sped walked as fast as she could to Hagrid's, with Ron and Hermione following her.

"I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak." Hermione said angrily shaking her head, she had never been so angry before, she needed to find a way to let it out, and soon, before she went off on someone. "It's just too horrible." She said just as they came across Pansy and her gaggle of 'friends'

"It just got worse." Haiden said, that along with over hearing what Pansy was saying was the last straw for Hermione.

"Father said I can keep the hippogriff's head so I can gift it to Draco. It'll show him how much more I care about him than that annoyed Harry. I even got the Minister to push the trial date up!" Pansy bragged. Hermione growled and stormed over towards her, wand out ready to throw curse after curse at her.

"Look who's here." One of her friends said spotting Hermione.

"Ah, come to see the show?" Pansy asked smirking.

"You!" Hermione growled out. "You foul, loathsome, evil, little cockroach!" She yelled shoving her wand under Pansy's chin as she began to cry, scared of Hermione.

"Hermione, stop!" Haiden cried running over to her.

"She's not worth it." Ron said. Hermione stayed in the position ready to fire a curse. Ron was right, surprisingly enough, this bitch wasn't worth getting kicked out of school for any length of time. She sighed and lowered her wand, she went to turn away and heard Pansy laugh at her, Hermione then spun around as fast a she could and punched her in the face, breaking her nose.

"Oh my god!" One friend cried.

"Pansy, are you okay?" The other asked as Pansy fell to the ground covering her bleeding nose.

"Let's go!" Pansy cried standing up and running away as fast as she could. Watching her ran gave Hermione a strangely exhilarating feeling.

"That felt good." Hermione said with a smirk looking at Haiden and Ron's shocked faces.

"Not good-" Haiden started.

"Brilliant." Ron finished and Hermione couldn't help smiling at them. She still disliked Ron quite a bit, but right now she could overlook that, at least until he did something to piss her off or get on her nerves. They then continued on towards Hagrid's where they passed Buckbeak that was chained up outside the hut. They knocked on the door and were let in quickly by Hagrid who served them tea.

"Oh, look at 'im." Hagrid said sadly motioning to the hippogriff outside. "Loves tha smell of tha trees when tha wind blows through 'em."

"Why don't we just set him free?" Haiden asked moving to stand next to Hagrid by the window.

"They'd know it was meh an' then Dumbledore would get inta trouble. 'E's coming down, you know, Dumbledore. Says 'e wants ta be with meh when they… when it 'appens. Great man, Dumbledore. Great man." Hagrid walked away from the window looking as if he was trying not to cry. A big difference from the first time they talked about this.

"We'll stay with you, too, Hagrid." Hermione said standing up from her seat. She needed to be with at least one of her friends, is she wasn't allowed to be with Harry in his time of need then she would be with Hagrid in his.

"Ya'll do no such thing! Think I want ya seein' somethin' like tha? No, ya just drink yer tea an' beh off, 'Arry needs ya more than meh. Oh, before ya do, Ron…" Hagrid walked over to a dresser, opened a jar and pulled something squeaking out of it, holding it out to Ron. Hermione got a good look at the object and noticed that it was-

"Scabbers!" Ron cried jumping from his seat and carefully taking the rat from Hagrid. "You're alive!"

"I want ya to keep a closer eye on yer pet, Ron." Hagrid said and Hermione couldn't stay silent any longer.

"I think that means you owe two someones an apology, Ronald." Hermione said angrily glaring at him.

"Right. Next time I see Crookshanks and Loki, I'll let them know." Ron told her with a smirk causing Hermione to ball her fists up in anger getting the urge to punch him in the face as she did Pansy.

"I meant me and Harry!" Hermione yelled angrily, suddenly the vase sitting on the table next to her broke in half. At first Hermione thought she had broke it with accidental magic, but when she inspected it closer, she found a small pebble in the remains of the vase.

"Blimey! What was tha?" Hagrid asked.

"Ow!" Haiden cried just as the sound of something hitting Haiden in the back of the head was heard. Haiden rubbed the back of his head and looked out the window to see if he could spot who had thrown what ever had hit him. "Hagrid." Haiden said catching Hagrid's attention and pointed out the window.

"It's late. It's nearly dark. Ya shouldn't beh here." Hagrid said, panicking. "If someone sees ya outside the castle this time of night, ya'll beh in trouble- big trouble." Hagrid moved away from the window, over to his bed grabbing a blanket from it. "Particularly ya, 'Aiden." Someone knocked on the door as Hagrid tossed the blanket over a creature that had been sitting next to the door the entire time they had been there. "With ya in a moment!" He then turned to them. "Quick out the back door." He whispered urgently.

"Hagrid." Hermione heard Haiden said as someone knocked again. "It'll be fine." He said before quickly rushing out the back door as the person knocked for the third time. Once out the back, Hermione peeked around the hut to the front, spotting the Minister, Dumbledore, and the Axeman being let inside Hagrid's hut. When it was safe for them move and not be seen, Hermione led Haiden and Ron past Buckbeak and hid behind a stack of pumpkins that Hagrid was growing.

They watched and tried to listen to what was being said in the hut, but with all the crows cawing and the distance they were at, it was hard to hear. But Hermione got the jest. The Minister was giving Hagrid a formal and final decision, Buckbeak was to be put to death. A stick snapping behind them caught her attention and she spun around to see what had caused the stick to snap, and swore she saw herself ducking behind a tree. But why she would be seeing herself duck behind a tree, she had no clue. Unless at some point today she would use her Time Turner to come back and save Buckbeak.

"What?" Haiden asked.

"I thought I just saw-" She started only to suddenly remember he had no idea about the Time Turner. "Never mind."

"Let's go." Ron said and they took off back up the hill, a safe distance away from the hut where Hermione had punched Pansy. They could see the Pumpkin field, but not Buckbeak who was laying in the field, because of some trees. Hermione felt tears wield in her eyes, and though she believed she would be coming back to save Buckbeak, she was still sad that she would have to save him in the first place. They silently watched the Axeman walk over to the place Buckbeak was, raise his axe, before swinging it down. Hermione gasped before turning and burying her face in Haiden's shoulder. Haiden hugged her as she cried, even Ron layed a comforting hand on her back.

"So you've heard already?" Draco asked behind them, shocking them. They looked at him, he was panicked and looked to have been crying.

"Heard what?" Haiden asked.

"Harry's missing!" Draco informed them. "I was there when they found him gone. I went to visit him just as Madam Pomfrey screamed before running out of his room, claiming he was gone all while holding a sheet covered in blood. Black kidnapped Harry!"

"Ouch!" Ron hissed before anyone could reply, and at first Hermione thought he was being sarcastic and rude. "He bit me!" Ron cried and Hermione noticed that Ron had dropped Scabbers and his finger was now bleeding. "Scabbers!"

"Ron?" Haiden asked as Ron ran after Scabbers who was running away as fast as he could. "Ron?!"

"What are you doing, Weasel?! Black has already kidnapped one student and is still on the loose! Do you want to be next?!" Draco asked as they chased after Ron.

"Scabbers! Come back!" Ron yelled.

"Wait!" Haiden yelled. They followed him all the way to just beyond the Whomping Willow.

"Haiden…" Hermione panted when she remembered something. "Didn't know you say there was a hidden tunnel under the Whomping Willow? One that lead to the Shrieking Shack?"

"Yeah." Haiden panted out.

"What's going on?" Draco asked also panting.

"Harry figured it out." Hermione said. "Harry figured out where Black was hiding. The Shrieking Shack." Hermione whispered to them as Ron caught Scabbers.

"That's not good." Haiden said. "Ron, Run!" He yelled. Ron looked up, paled and pointed behind them.

"Haiden! Hermione! Run! It's the Grim!" Ron screamed in fear. They all turned around and spotted a shaggy, black dog above them, growling. The dog barked just before running at them, it lunge right pasted them and continued to Ron. It grabbed Ron by the leg and pulled him into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow.

"Haiden! Help!" Ron cried out.

"Ron! Ron, no!" Haiden yelled chasing after Ron and the dog.

"Go get help, Draco!" Hermione ordered chasing after Haiden just as the Whomping Willow woke up and whacked them away with one of its branches. It continued to swing every branch, keeping them from getting close. Crap! How were they to get to Ron and help him if they couldn't get close. They heard Ron scream in pain. Determined, Hermione and Haiden ran at the tree, dodging the branches when they were swung or slammed at them.

"Move!" Haiden yelled pushing Hermione out of the way from a branch.

"Duck!" Hermione cried ducking in time to miss getting hit by a branch, but from the sound of Haiden's grunt, he was not so lucky. Hermione looked over and saw Haiden on the ground, his glasses knocked off. She looked back at the tree just in time to jump over a low swinging branch, stumbled, and looked up in time to get hit by another branch. But instead of letting it fling her way, she clutched onto branch for dear life. She got an idea and quickly situated herself on branch so that she could execute her idea safely. It was only then that she realised that she was terrified of heights. She couldn't help the scream that flew out of her mouth as the tree swung her around.

She was thankful that even though she was terrified, she was still in control of her body. And when the branch swung her close enough to Haiden who had just stood up and grabbed his glasses, she reached out and, focusing her magic into her hand, gripped his shirt taking him with her. The branch swung them up and then down in the perfect alignment to the hole under it that lead to the tunnel. Knowing that she probably wouldn't have a better chance for this, she swung Haiden at the hole and let go. And then she hoped and prayed he fell into it unharmed. She dropped down herself with a scream and landed in the hole, on Haiden's back.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hermione told him.

"Don't worry." Haiden gasped out before getting up. They quickly followed the path all the way to the Shrieking Shack, hoping to get there before anything bad could happen to Ron, and maybe even find Harry, hopefully alive. When they got to the Shrieking Shack, it was just as horrible as she thought it would be. It was creeking and swaying with the wind that sounded like howling and moaning as it flew through all the cracks in the walls. And there was dust everywhere. The only place where the dust had been disturbed was the drag marks that lead upstairs.

"This is the Shrieking Shack." Hermione whispered, she felt Haiden take her hand.

"Come on." He whispered and led her up the stairs. And as they climbed a sinking feeling entered her stomach as she caught sight of what looked to her as fresh drops of blood. The blood was either from Ron, or Harry, she did remember hearing Draco say that there had been a sheet covered in blood in Madam Pomfrey's hands when she ran out of Harry's private room after noticing him missing. And the grunts and groans she was hearing didn't make her feel any better.

"Ron!" Haiden cried spotting Ron sitting on a dirty mattress on the floor, holding Scabbers, his leg was bleeding from his bite wound, looking very pale, frighted, and a little sick.

"Ron! You're okay!" Hermione said breathing a sigh of relief.

"The dog- where is it?" Haiden asked.

"Haiden, it's a trap! He's the dog! He's an Animagus!" Ron cried pointing behind them. They turned and spotted Black standing just beside the door. Hermione gasped, but not because of Black, but because of what she spotted behind him. Blood coated the floor behind him, and in the middle of the floor was the motionless body of Harry. She covered her mouth in shocked horror and ran over to her friend. His arms were slashed and he looked as if he had put up a great fight, but what really caught her attention was the deep slash on this throat. Black had cut Harry's throat.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!" Hermione cried.

"Death is dead!" Black giggled out. "I killed Death!" Hermione felt a weak tug at her robe, glanced down and saw that Harry wasn't dead. He eyes, that had been closed when she had gotten to him, were now open and he was looking at her, pleading. And she could see the life draining from his eyes.

"NO!" She screamed and placed her hands on the slash on his throat and tried to will her magic up to her hands like Harry had shown her, like she had done just moments before. She felt her hands begin to heat up and her energy drain. Just then Remus crashed through the door Black had closed, wand in hand.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted and Hermione looked over her shoulder just in time to see Haiden's wand fly from his hand. She also noticed that Haiden had somehow gotten Black onto the ground and was pinning him there with his hand to his throat. He motioned for Haiden to get off Black, which he did. "Well, well, Sirius…" She watched Remus sniff the air, and her theory that Remus was a werewolf was confirmed then and there. His head snapped towards her and Harry, when he caught sight of Harry his eyes turned bright gold, his teeth elongated, and his body started shaking.

"I didn't want to believe it." Remus growled out, his voice more demonic. "Even went so far as to defend you. And yet, here is my proof." Remus turned back towards Black. " You killed Harry. You killed my pup!" He howled before pouncing, Black barely managed to rolled out of the way.

"Remus, my old friend! You've been tricked! That wasn't Harry! I know Harry! I've held Harry! Harry is human! That-" He gestured to Harry as he skillfully managed to continue evading Remus's attacks. "-That was not Harry! That was not Human! That was Death! I've seen him with my eyes! Trying to trick me as well! But I caught him switching between his real form and Harry's form! So I took him! I tried to get him to tell me where he put Harry! But he would not tell me! So I had to kill him!" Remus roared at that and Hermione watched in horror as he shifted a little more into his wolf form.

"Haiden! Ron! Get away from him! He's a werewolf!" Hermione warned them knowing that he was started to lose control of the wolf. She felt a hand touch hers, and it was only then that she realized she had stopped focusing her magic into her hands. "No!" She screamed and turned back towards Harry and tried to force her magic back into her hands, but she was too tired. Just then Severus barged into the room and used a spell to knock Remus to the ground before binding him.

"He killed Harry!" Remus growled out fighting against his binds. Hermione saw Severus glance at her and Harry who had started wheezing. This happened at the same time Black yelled something about Peter Pettigrew still being alive.

"This isn't the way to go about this, Remus. Yes, I want him dead as well, but if we give in and kill him, as he did Harry, then we both rot in Azkaban and he wins." Severus growled out pointing his wand at Black, the look in his eyes saying how much he wanted to kill Black.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to attend to." Black said suddenly sounding a lot more sane then he had been, walking up to Severus who shoved his wand against Black's throat.

"Give me a reason. I beg you." Severus begged, his promising murder as the binding around Remus vanished and he stood up, looking a lot calmer than he had.

"Severus, you were right. Now, don't be a fool." Remus said and Hermione watch Severus tighten his grip on his wand and clench his teeth.

"He can't help it. It's habit by now." Black taunted, giving Hermione a strange sense that they've done this song and dance before, or at least a similar song and dance.

"Sirius, be quiet!" Remus roared out.

"Oh, quiet yourself, Remus!" Black hissed out.

"Oh, listen to you two, quarreling like an old married couple." Severus growled out.

"Jealous?" Black asked with a smirk and Remus rolled his eyes before stalking over to Hermione and Harry, quickly grabbing his wand and put a stasis charm on Harry. "Why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set!" Severus pushed his wand farther into Black's throat.

"I could do it, you know." Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But why deny the dementors? They're so longing to see you. Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh, yes. A dementor's kiss. One can only imagine what that must be like to endure. It's said to be nearly unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best."

"Severus, just bound him and let us get Harry to the Hospital Wing. I don't know how much longer he'll have." Remus said picking Harry up, and even though Harry was in stasis, Hermione could have sworn he sent a spark of his magic at her, because as her hand slid from his throat as Remus picked him up, she felt a shock go through her and images fill her brain: Ron's rat shiting from human to rat and back again.

Without thinking, Hermione pulled out her wand, shot to her feet, and shot the deanimagus spell she remembered learning from Harry earlier that year. It hit the rat in Ron's hand and Ron screamed as the rat suddenly began to grow larger. And then, he was no longer a rat, but a human male.

"Remus? Is-s is this Sirius?" The man asked. "My old friends!" He held out his arms looking as if he wanted a hug, he even took a step towards them but then he tried to bolt out of the room. But Severus and Black stopped him. The man glanced around the room before spotting Haiden. "Haiden, look at you. You look so much like your father, like James." The man said slowly hobbling over to him. "We were the best of friends, he and I…"

"How dare you speak to Haiden!" Black growled running so that he could get in between Haiden and the man.

"Miss Granger, help Remus get Harry, and Ronald to the Hospital Wing. I can handle everything from here." Severus ordered. And seeing how, as of right now, Haiden was trapped in a corner behind Black and in front of the strange man, Hermione rushed over to Ron and helped him up and out of the room. Before she left, she glanced at Haiden who nodded to her.

 **~Lock Me In Your Heart~**

Hours later found Hermione worriedly pacing besides Harry's Hospital bed waiting for Haiden and Severus to arrive. Harry didn't have long to live, and even though Madam Pomfrey had closed the gash on Harry's throat and gave him some blood restorative potions, his body was refusing them. No one knew how much longer Harry had, but they knew he would not make it through the night. But not only that, she had not seen Haiden nor Severus since she and Remus left them in the Shrieking Shack with Black and that man she now knew was Peter Pettigrew, someone who was supposed to have died at the hands of Sirius Black.

And in the time they had gotten Ron and Harry safely to the Hospital Wing, which honestly surprised Hermione since the full moon had been out, and learned that Harry would die. They had made him as comfortable as they could, and Remus explained everything to her. From how Remus, Black, James, and Peter had been friends in school, to how Black had been made not only the Godfather to Harry and Haiden but had been made the Potter's Secret Keeper when they went into hiding, to the changing of the Secret Keeper from Black to Peter.

Hermione jump when Severus barged through the doors to the Hospital Wing with Haiden passed out in his arm. "What happened?!" Hermione asked running over and helped Severus carry Haiden to the bed next to Harry.

"Pettigrew got away." Severus said falling into the chair that was sitting in between Harry and Haiden's bed.

"What?!" Remus, who had been silently watching them from the other side of Harry's bed asked. "How?"

"I don't know! It happened so fast! Pettigrew had somehow gotten a hold of a wand and turned back into a rat. Black changed into a dog and chased him. This idiotic boy thought it would be a good idea to chase both of them. And I chased after him. We somehow found our way to the lake where we were attacked by a swarm of Dementors. Me and the boy tried to fight them, but there were too many, we got overwhelmed. And then I blacked out. I don't know how we survived, because the next thing I know, I'm coming to laying besides him. And Black was gone, captured." Severus explained.

"It was my dad." Haiden muttered.

"What?" Hermione asked giving Haiden her full attention.

"He sent the Dementors away. I saw him across the lake." Haiden muttered.

"...-mione." Harry croaked out.

"Shh, don't speak." Remus instantly hovered.

"...-mione." He croaked again and Hermione knew he was calling her and would not stop until she went to him. "...oser." He croaked when she moved to his side. She bent over him, placing her ear right next to his mouth. "...Time Tuner…. Save… take… Haiden." Was the last thing he said before he was gone. Hermione cried, but knew she didn't have much time to do this. She rushed over to Haiden, forced him to stand up.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked, but she ignored him. If she was going to save everyone, she and Haiden needed to go now. She didn't know why Harry wanted her to take Haiden, but he had never stirred her wrong before. And besides, if she had already used the Time Turner and this was Harry's second pass through this, then he would know what needed to be done.

Before she could pull her the Time Turner out from under her shirt, the clock tower struck midnight, and a man with a long black cloak, the cloak's hood covering the man's face. He appeared out of the shadows beside Harry's bed next to the distraught Remus. The man glanced at Harry's body before looking at Hermione and Haiden. She had seen this man only once before, the night after McGonagall had given her the Time Turner.

"Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the Black Tower." He said, his voice dark and deep as the hopeless darkness, and yet filled the air with the hope of light. "You know the rule, Hermione. You must not be seen. And you would do well, I feel, to return before this last chime. If not, the consequences are too ghastly to discuss." The man placed his hand over Harry's left eye, and the left side of his body began to decay, only for the decay to vanish the second he took his hand off. "If you succeed tonight, more than one innocent life may be spared." He walked over to the still open doors of the Hospital Wing, he grabbed them. "Three turns should do it, I think. Oh, when in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin. Good luck." And with that he shut the doors.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Ron, who was in the bed across from Harry, asked but Hermione was already rushing to pull out her Time Turner. She unwrapped the long chain from her neck and threw it over the very confused Haiden.

"Sorry, Ron, but seeing as you can't walk…" Hermione said before starting to turn the Time Turner backwards three times before quickly slapping Haiden's hand away when he tried to touch the Time Turner. Hermione and Haiden watched as time began to quickly rewind, speeding up as it went. She had never gone this far back in time before.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen- Hermione to the Rescue….Again**

By the time the Time Turner had finished rewinding, they were standing in the middle of an empty Hospital Wing. Hermione quickly pulled the necklace from around an even more confused and slightly scared Haiden. "What just happened?" Haiden asked looking around the empty Hospital wing with wide eyes. "Where's Ron? Where's Professor Snape and Remus? Where's Harry." As he asked that Harry came stumbling out of his private room.

"Right, we don't have much time. It's 7:30." Harry said as Hermione ran over to catch him before he fell. "Where were you at 7:30?"

"I-I-I don't know." Haiden stumbled still trying to wrap his mind around what was happening. "Um, uh, uh, I think- I think going to Hagrid's?"

"Well then, let's go." Harry said pushing off Hermione and took a step, only for his knees to give out on him. "Damn it." He muttered.

"You should stay here and rest some more, your body was still very weak around this time." Hermione told him as she help him up as Haiden rushed over.

"Can't. Have to be missing when Draco gets here. Not letting Sirius get me again." Harry said shaking his head and glaring at the ground. "We need to quickly get to Hagrid's hut. We also can't be seen." Hermione and Haiden shared a look before they each took one of Harry's arms and wrapped it around their necks, they then quickly made their way out of the Hospital Wing and towards Hagrid's hut. When they crossed the bridge leading towards Hagrid's hut, they had to stop because in front of them was Hermione, Ron, and Haiden confronting Pansy and her gaggle of friends.

"Okay, I can't stay quiet any longer." Haiden said when he saw the back of himself. "What the bloody hell is going on? Because right now I'm watching you confront Pansy over there, while you're still standing next to me!"

"Hermione no!" The other Haiden cried as the other Hermione pointed her wand at Pansy.

"That's not normal!" Haiden cried not even stopping Harry when he slid off him to rest up against the stone wall the encased the bridge.

"You haven't told him yet?" Harry asked situating himself so he could watch the other Hermione.

"I haven't really had time." Hermione said.

"Now seems like a good time." Harry said with a smirk. Hermione nodded before pulling Haiden back onto the bridge and pulled out her Time Turner again. "This is a Time Turner, Haiden. McGonagall gave it to me first term. This is how I've been getting to my lessons all year."

"You mean, we've gone back in time?" Haiden asked.

"Yes. That man, the one who stepped out of the shadows. I saw him only once before, right after McGonagall gave me the Time Turner. I think he might be connected to the Time Turner in some way, I don't know how. But he was the one who taught me how to use the Time Turner and the rules of going back in time. He obviously wanted us to return to this moment. Clearly something happened he wants us to change."

"Wait, you told Harry about the Time Turner and not me?" Haiden asked sounding hurt.

"Well she kind of had no choice." Harry said and flinched, Hermione guessed that the other her had just punched Pansy. "Good punch." He whispered to her confirming her suspicion.

"Thanks." Hermione said smiling at him.

"Also, you two might want to hide. Pansy's on her way here." Harry warned them. Hermione grabbed Haiden's hand before leading him to a hole in the stone wall that may have once been a window but had crumbled from time and exposure to the elements that it not longer resembled a window. She pushed him through it before jumping in through herself, ducking as Pansy and her gaggle ran passed the wall and Harry.

"Love the new nose job, Pans! Looks great! You have to tell me who did it!" Harry called to her as she passed him causing Hermione have to cover her mouth the muffle her laugh. "It's clear, you guys are leaving the hill to head to Hagrid's!" Harry called to them. Hermione and Haiden walked up to the opening of the bridge and saw that he was right. They rushed to Harry and helped him walked farther out on the hill overlooking Hagrid's hut.

"Look. Buckbeak's still alive!" Haiden cried happily reminding Hermione of when she caught sight of herself outside Hagrid's hut.

"Of course!" Hermione cried. "Remember what the man said? 'If we succeed, more than one innocent life could be spared."

"What are we waiting for, let's go." Harry urged them and they carefully helped him down the hill to hide behind the stack of pumpkins just outside the Hagrid's hut. Hermione looked over and saw Dumbledore, the Minister, and the Axeman making their way towards the hut, she glanced back at the them in the hut.

"Here they come. I better hurry." Haiden said and started to get up to run to save Buckbeak, but Hermione stopped him before he could.

"Fudge has to see Buckbeak before we steal him. Otherwise, he'll think Hagrid set him free." Hermione said before they looked through the window of the hut at Hagrid who was handing Ron his rat.

"That's Pettigrew." Haiden growled out in anger and Hermione, knowing what he was thinking, quickly grabbed his arm and held him there.

"Haiden you can't!" She hissed at him.

"Hermione, that's the man who betrayed my parents. Got Sirius thrown in jail to become crazy enough to kill Harry. Everything that has happened to me and Harry is because of him. You don't expect me to just sit here, do you?" Haiden hissed back at her, he tried to stand up again, but Hermione yanked him back down and pulled him to the other side of the pumpkin patch, away from the path Dumbledore, the Minister, and the Axeman were walking on.

"Yes, you must!" Hermione told him. Haiden turned and looked at Harry with a 'can you believe her' look as he slowly followed them, using the pumpkin's for support. In trying to keep Haiden from breaking the number one rule of Time Travel, she had forgotten all about Harry. "Harry, you're in Hagrid's hut now. If you go bursting in he'll think you've gone mad."

"She's right. Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time." Harry said looking at Hermione who got a sudden chill at those words.

"He's right, you and me, we can't be seen." Hermione told Haiden who suddenly looked at Harry.

"But Harry-" Haiden started.

"Is supposed to be resting in the Hospital wing, only to wind up missing when Draco tries to visit." Harry continued causing Haiden's shoulders to slump. "Also, are you guy suppose to still be in the hut when they get there?" Harry asked nodded past the pumpkins to Dumbledore, the Minister, and the Axeman who had just gotten to the pumpkin patch.

"No." Hermione said before glancing over the top of the pumpkins. "We aren't leaving. Why aren't we leaving?" Hermione noticed the pebbles scatter on and around the pumpkins, they looked just like the one she found in the vase. It was then that she knew what she had to do, she grabbed a pebble and, as hard as she could, tossed it through the window of the hut before ducking.

"Are you mad?" Haiden whispered, Hermione ignored him before quickly grabbing another pebble and launched it through the window again before hiding once more, hearing a faint 'ow' from the other Haiden. The Haiden beside her rubbed the back of his head and glared at her, as if feeling the phantom pains from getting hit by the pebble.

"Ow. That hurt." He whispered angrily at her.

"All that planted vegetation, variegated leaves, flowers." She overheard Dumbledore rambling as she apologized to Haiden while Harry silently laughed as they peered over the pumpkins and watched Dumbledore knock on Hagrid's hut a few times before the back door opened and they snuck out.

"We're coming out the back door. Go." Hermione urged as she and Haiden quickly helped Harry get to the woods behind them just as they ran behind the pumpkins. Hermione and Harry hid behind one tree while Haiden hid behind another. Hermione peeked around her's and Harry's tree, pulling back a branch, and got a great look at the back of her head. Dear god, she needed to learn to style the back of her head better. "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?" She whispered, she shifted and accidently broke the branch, causing it to snap.

"Hermione!" Harry hissed at her, pulling her back behind the tree.

"What?" She heard either Haiden or the other Haiden ask.

"I thought I just saw-" She heard herself start to say before pausing. "Nevermind." She finished. This was what had seen at that time! She had caught herself coming back to save Buckbeak, of course at the time she didn't know Haiden and Harry were with her, but how could she? She had only seen herself.

"Let's go." They heard Ron say before she heard themselves hurry off. Hermione and Haiden left Harry gripping onto his tree as they quietly snuck back to the pumpkin patch to hide and make sure they had enough time to sneak up there and take Buckbeak and not caught.

"Okay, go, Haiden. Go!" Hermione ordered Haiden who quickly and quietly made his way over to Buckbeak and bowed, Buckbeak bowed back. Haiden quickly grabbed the chain that was loosely connected to a pole and Hermione snuck up behind Haiden, both of them froze when the door started opening.

"I-I really think I should sign as well." They heard Dumbledore say and the door closed again.

"Okay, Buckbeak. Come on, quickly. Come with us now, okay? Come on." Haiden whispered urgently while tugging on the chain. But Buckbeak refused to move. Hermione saw some dead ferrets off to the side, and quickly grabbed them, holding one out to Buckbeak. He looked like he was going to move, but then thought against it.

"Come on Buckbeak." Hermione urged. Suddenly they heard a soft yet high pitched whistling coming from the woods behind them. If Hermione didn't know Harry was hiding in the woods, watching them struggle to get Buckbeak to follow them, then she would have just thought it was the wind flowing through the trees. But the fact that Harry was in the woods and the way Buckbeak shot up and practically ran towards the trees the whistling had come from confirmed that it had not been the wind. Hermione and Haiden went to follow Buckbeak but caught sight of Dumbledore walking out of the hut with the Minister right behind him, and froze with Hermione still holding the dead ferrets and Haiden holding on to the end of the chain.

"Look, beyond the rocks. Professor Dippet had that ling planted when he was Headmaster." Dumbledore said pointing away from them, causing them to have their backs turned towards Hermione and Haiden.

"Oh yes, indeed." The Minister said nodding his head looking at where Dumbledore was pointing as the Axeman came out to see what Dumbledore and the Minister were looking at.

"And all those strawberries you see." Dumbledore continued.

"He's stalling." Hermione heard Harry whisper in her ear and turned to look at him, only to see no one there. A bubble came floating out from the trees and towards her. "Move, now." Harry's voice whispered after it had popped beside her ear.

"Strawberries?" The Minister asked.

"Come on." Hermione whispered to Haiden as she grabbed his hand and they carefully walked backwards towards the woods making sure to keep their eyes on Dumbledore, the Minister, and the Axeman to make sure they didn't turn around and spot them. Thankfully they were able to get into the woods and hidden by the trees before one of them turned around.

"But where is it?" Hermione heard the Minister asked as she and Haiden hid behind some trees and peered around them to see what would happen. "I saw the beast, just now." The Minister claimed, confused and very scared. "Not a moment ago!"

"How extraordinary." Dumbledore said, sounding very excited.

"Oh, come now, Dumbledore." The Minister reprimanded turning to glare at the Headmaster who gave him an innocent look. "Someone's obviously released him. Hagrid?" The Minister accused and Hermione began to panic, had they just gotten Hagrid in trouble?

"Professor, I swear I didn't!" Hagrid cried looked between Dumbledore and the Minister with worry in his eyes.

"I don't think the Minister's suggesting that you had anything to do with this, Hagrid." Dumbledore said looking at Hagrid, even though it was clear he was talking to the Minister, the slightly threatening tone confirmed it. "After all, how could you? You've been with us all the time." He added slowly looking from Hagrid to the Minister with an eyebrow raised.

"Well then." The Minister said panicked looking away from Dumbledore to the Axeman that was staring in shock at the place Buckbeak had been. "Well… well…" The Minister turned back to Dumbledore as the Axeman walked forward to stand in front of where Buckbeak had been. "We must search the grounds."

"Oh, search the skies, if you must, Minister." Dumbledore said with a slight smirk. "Meanwhile, I'd like a nice cup of tea," He added turning towards Hagrid, "or a large brandy."

"Right." Hagrid said still obviously very confused as to what had just happened.

"Oh, Executioner, your services are no longer required." Dumbledore told the Axeman before he glanced at the woods they were hiding in. "Thank you." He said with a tilt of his head before smiling and entering the hut. Hermione bit back a smile, knowing that that 'Thank you' was towards them, and watched the Axeman raise his axe and swing it down, easily slicing a pumpkin in half.

"Right." Harry called to them quietly and Hermione turned around to lend him and hand, only to find him sitting uncomfortably on Buckbeak's back. "Now that this has been taken care of, we have one more stop. Climb on." He told them. Hermione and Haiden glanced at each other before they climbed on behind Harry. "Listen here Buckbeak, I want you to take us to the Weeping Willow without flying. You open your wings to take off you and you don't even want to know what I will do to you." Harry whispered to Buckbeak who shook his head before he took off at a run through the woods.

"Now what?" Haiden asked as he held on to Hermione who was holding on to Harry as Buckbeak ran.

"We save Sirius." Hermione told him gripping onto Harry tighter as Buckbeak jumped over a huge, fallen tree. She did not like this, at all.

"How?" Haiden asked.

"No idea." Hermione said as Harry caused Buckbeak to come to a sliding stop just before they came to the edge of the woods. Everyone, including Harry, slid off Buckbeak. Hermione had to quickly grab Harry's arm before he collapsed on the ground.

"Thanks." Harry muttered before they rushed to the edge of the woods to see the Weeping Willow still angrily swinging it's limbs.

"Look. It's Remus!" Hermione said nodding towards Remus who was rushing towards the tree.

"And that's my cue." Harry said and started to make his way towards Remus, but Hermione stopped him by grabbing left arm.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him.

"Getting found." Harry told her with a smile before he gently, and right before her eyes she watched his eyes change. Thin, black, spider web like tendrils began to overtake his left eyes starting from his pupil. The tendrils didn't stop when the eyes was completely taken over, they started to creep onto his skin. They stopped just a few inches onto the skin, but never passing over to the right side of his face. Hermione dropped Harry's arm so fast, it was as if she had been burned and started to take an intake of breath to scream, she had seen this face before, when she was in her first year, but she had believed it had been a nightmare at the time. Harry moved to fast for her to keep up, and soon both Hermione and Haiden found their mouths covered by the possessed Harry.

"Now," Harry started his voice reminding her of the cloaked guy who had taught her how to use the Time Turner, "I know both of you have so many questions for me: Who am I? What am I doing inside Harry? Why Harry? What do I want?" Harry said soundly somewhat bored. "But trust me when I say, we don't have time for me to explain everything. All that we have time for is for me to tell you not to worry. I know it's scary when I take over Harry, but trust me it is needed. And don't worry about Harry going into the Shrieking Shack, he'll be safe. Sirius won't kill him this time. That debt has already been paid. Oh I know, I just created more questions that I don't have time to explain, but," Harry, still covering their mouths, turned them around to show them that the cloaked guy was patiently waiting for them by Buckbeak, "He has all the time needed to explain." With that Harry pushed them towards the cloak guy. When Hermione spun back around to look at Harry, he was already with Remus, who had meet up with Severus by this time, and was entering the tunnel under the Weeping Willow.

"Please, follow me and I will explain." The cloaked man said causing Hermione to spin back around to stare at the man suspiciously. This man and the thing that was constantly possessing Harry were working together, she didn't know if she could trust him any more. The man sighed, as if hearing her thoughts. "Please, if you would follow me, you will know everything." The man said but neither Hermione nor Haiden moved, the man sighed again, this one sounding more annoyed than the last. "I said come!" The man said motioning with his hand for them to come to him, and suddenly Hermione felt a tug at her soul, and then the next then she knew, she and Haiden were walking towards the man. The second they got within five feet of the man, they walked through what seemed to be a bubble and everything she ever knew about time and space went out the window.

They were obviously still in the woods, but everything seemed to be both speeding up, going normal speed, and slowing down all at once! Hermione looked around and spotted herself and what looked like Harry sitting just on the edge of the woods. She could see they were talking, their mouths were moving at normal speed, but the sound was sluggish getting to them.

"Before… down by the lake, when I was with Sirius… I did see somebody." Was all the snippet she caught before the scene changed. Now it was Draco and Haiden talking.

"That someone made the dementors go away." Haiden told Draco and the scene changed to Hermione and Haiden.

"With a Patronus. I heard Snape telling Dumbledore. According to him, only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it." As Haiden turned to look at Hermione in the scene, he changed to a female version of himself and Hermione changed to a male version of herself.

"It was my dad." The female Haiden said. "It was my dad who conjured the Patronus."

Hermione's attention was pulled away from that scene to another. Her and Harry standing farther right, but still on the edge of the woods. Hermione howled, catching the attention of Remus who had apparently shifted into his wolf form. Hermione glanced back towards the scene with them sitting, talking, and they were still there. This was all happening at the same time! Suddenly one of the Hermione's ran past them, leaving echos that were of different versions of her.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked as she continued to look scenes that were playing in the woods. Some were of things that had happened (like Haiden and Ron following the spiders), things that they were going through right now (the Shrieking Shack and Sirius), or of things that had yet to happen.

"We are in a Time Bubble, which is my domain. No one who I do not allow entry can enter, not even Him." The cloaked man said.

"Time Turners? Time Bubble? What is going on?" Haiden asked as Hermione wondered this 'Him' was.

"Both of you have excellent questions. The 'Him' I am speaking about is my creator. And he is someone you really don't want to meet. A Time Bubble is a small bubble that I can create anywhere and is connected to every single universe." The man explained.

"Every universe? As in there is more than one?" Hermione asked.

"Just look around you." The man said motioning around them to all the different scene. "Everything you are seeing is from different universes, or if it makes more sense: Parallel Universes." Hermione looked around again, this time in awe. She and Haiden were one the the few people who would ever get to see this. "And now, back to the true discussion: The Time Turner. It was a device that the tainted part of my creator created for humans to use and destroy themselves, but the untainted side of him hid it away. We snuck it out of his domain, but of course he found out and was furious. He demanded punishment for the human who was using the Time Turner." Hermione gasped. "And that punishment was Death. So he sent me, the true Angel of Death, to make sure the punishment was carried out." Hermione went to take a step away from the man, but found she couldn't move.

"Don't fret, Hermione, Harry's already paid your Death Debt." The man told her.

"What?" Both Haiden asked at the same time Hermione asked "How?"

"With a little bit of work and a lot of magic. We were able to move your mark of Death from you and place it upon Harry." The man said.

"But why Harry?" Haiden asked.

"Because he can't die, and if he does happen to die, he won't stay dead." The man told Haiden who went to ask more questions but was stopped. "The why's and how's of that is something that cannot be explained at this time."

"Okay. So I was supposed die tonight, but you and whoever is possessing Harry made it so that Harry would die instead. So was Sirius supposed to kill me?" Hermione asked with tears in her eyes.

"What?" The man asked looking away in thought for a minute before laughing. "Oh, no. If I had left your mark of death on you, you would have died years from now, by Death Eaters torturing you." He said lightly.

"So why did Harry need to die tonight?" Haiden asked.

"Because the sooner we got rid of the mark, the less likely He would see it and notice it was on the wrong person." The man explained.

"And why did Sirius have to be the one to kill him?" Haiden asked and the man laughed again.

"Because I could, and it was easier for everyone. I mean, everyone already thought he was a killer, plus he had just escaped Azkaban, so it was easy to make people think he was crazy. And so I made him paranoid that I was after him, that I was coming for his life, and that I was trying to pose as Harry to lure him in. Obviously he took the bait." The man said while still laughing gaining a shocked and disgusted look. "Don't look at me like that. This is what I was created for, killing people." He said with a shrug. "You're lucky I went that route, I could have had Remus lose control, wolf out and kill his own pup, and not even remember doing it." He with a shrug. "But I thought that was just way to cruel to both Remus and Severus, they've had so many hardships already."

"And what, Sirius hasn't?" Haiden growled out.

"Why are you so angry? It's not like any of your are going to remember Sirius killing Harry." The man said.

"What?" Hermione and Haiden asked.

"Use your brains. You guys have gone back in time, Harry wasn't in the Hospital Wing for Sirius to find (not that he was going to go after Harry anyways since we whipped his memory of Death following him and him wanting to kill Death), ergo Sirius doesn't kill Harry. The timeline has been changed. Everyone's memory of what happened tonight has been changed." The man said.

"But we still remember!" Haiden cried.

"Don't worry, I've already fixed that." The man said before vanishing. Hermione blinked wondering why she and Haiden were just standing in the forest when they needed to get to the lake and save Sirius before the Dementors get to him. She felt the temperature start to drop and looked up into the sky the same time Haiden did.

"Sirius." Haiden worriedly said. "Come on!" He cried grabbing her hand and they followed the Dementors towards the lake. They got there in time to see Sirius lying on the ground with Haiden standing over him, getting attacked by the Dementors.

"This is horrible." Hermione said watching with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry. My dad will come." Haiden told her. "He'll conjure the Patronus." The two of them continued watching with bated breath, waiting for someone to come and save Haiden and Sirius. "Any minute now!" Haiden said sounding desperate. "Right there!" He pointed towards the edge of the lake just in front of them. "You'll see!"

"Haiden, listen to me. No one's coming." Hermione told him sadly.

"Don't worry! He will! He will come!" Haiden said.

"You're dying…" Hermione said as her tears started to fall, "...both of you." Suddenly Haiden shot forward to the place where he was so sure his father would appear. "Haiden!"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Haiden roared and a beautiful silver stag shot out of his wand and ran over to him and Sirius, knocking every Dementor out of the way and making sure they stayed away, before going back into the wand and the Haiden on the other side of the lake collapsed to the ground. Haiden stumbled back to Hermione and the safety of the trees as Severus and Dumbledore, along with the Minister, came running up. Severus picked up Haiden, while the Minister magically carried Sirius. Hermione quickly found Buckbeak and helped Haiden onto him, before climbing on behind him.

"We don't have much time, it's almost midnight, we need to get Sirius and then back to the Hospital Wing before it's too late!" Hermione said before Buckbeak took off flying.

"You were right, Hermione." Haiden called back to her as they flew to the Black Tower where they new Sirius would be held. "It wasn't my dad I saw earlier. It was me. I saw myself conjuring the Patronus before. I knew I could do it this time, because… well, I'd already done it. Does that make sense?"

"No!" Hermione called to him. "But I don't like flying….!" She yelled as Haiden made Buckbeak dive as they came towards the tower. They landing and Hermione quickly slid off Buckbeak and ran towards Sirius's cell. "Bombarda!" She casted and blew the lock off the cell. "Hurry, we don't have much time!" They all climbed back on Buckbeak, this time with Hermione controlling him, and Sirius sitting in between her and Haiden, laughing as they took off. Hermione, terrified as hell, had Buckbeak take them to the courtyard in front of the clock tower that held the Hospital Wing. Once they landed, Haiden slid off, and quickly helped Hermione off who was gripping onto Buckbeak so tightly she was shocked that she hadn't torn any of his feathers off.

"I'll be forever grateful for this. To both of you." Sirius said smiling.

"I want to go with you. Harry has Severus and Remus to care for him, and I have no one." Haiden said shocking Hermione, was this really how he felt? But as she thought of it, she could understand. His brother, his twin, had been adopted from an abusive home, which Haiden still technically belonged to.

"One day, perhaps. For some time, my life will be too unpredictable. And besides…" Sirius gently rested his hand on Haiden's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You're meant to be here."

"But you're innocent." Haiden said.

"And you know it." Sirius told him calmly as he hugged Haiden when he began to tear up. Hermione, sensing this was going to be a private moment, turned and began petting Buckbeak in an attempt to give them the semblance of privacy. "And for now, that'll do. I expect you're tired of hearing this… But you look so much like your father, especially your eyes. They hold the same fire and determination that your father's held. And your brother, your brother reminds me so much like your mother, especially when he went off on Peter, your mother would have done the same."

"I didn't know that." Haiden muttered.

"It's cruel that I got to spend so much time with James and Lily and you two so little. But know this… the ones that love us never really leave us. And you can always find them...in here." Hermione glanced over and saw Sirius rest his hand on Haiden's heart and smiled softly before walking over to Haiden when Sirius mounted Buckbeak again. She took Haiden's hand silently giving him comfort. "You really are the brightest witch of your age." Sirius told her as Hermione rested her head on Haiden's shoulder. "Looking at you two, together like that, it's like I'm looking at Lily and James again." He told them before he took off on Buckbeak, soaring into the sky and to freedom, or as much freedom as he could have while hiding from the law. As they watched him with sad smiles, the clock tower began to chime.

"We have to go!" Hermione told him and lead him into clock tower and they ran up every flight of stairs as fast as they could, coming to the Hospital Wing just as a figure cloaked in black, and partially hidden in shadows was closing the doors to the Hospital Wing, their back towards them. As they came to a stop behind the figure, he turned around to show Harry.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"He's free. We did it." Haiden panted out.

"Did what?" Harry asked and suddenly Hermione got the fleeting feeling that she would never see him again and flung her arms around him. "Well, hello to you too." He said before whispered "You won't be needing this any longer." Causing Hermione to pull away from him in confusion.

"Right, well, Ron's in there being an arse, as usual, and I'm to tired to fight with him. So I'll be seeing you." He told them before starting to pass them.

"Where are you going?" Haiden asked.

"To find Draco, and let him know I have been found. Good night." Harry said leaving them, humming happily as he did so. Hermione hear the sound of wings beating, and looked behind her to where Harry should have still been walking away only to see Heimdallur flying away with something gold hanging from his claws. But she didn't have time to question anything she heard or saw before they entered the Hospital Wing just in time to watch themselves disappear.

"How did you get there?" Ron, the only one in the room, asked pointing at them. "You were… I was talking to you there." He said pointing to the spot they had disappeared from. "And now you're there." He whimpered.

"What's he talking about, Haiden?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Haiden said as they shared a look. "Honestly, Ron, how can somebody be in two places at one?" This caused Hermione to bust out laughing as relief flooded through her, she rested a hand on her chest and felt her Time Turner was now missing. Her mind flashed back to when she hugged Harry, and what he had whispered to her. He had taken her Time Turner! And then she remembered Heimdallur flying away from them where Harry should have been walking from them. Who, or what was Heimdallur?


End file.
